


Broken Walls (2005)

by JennyB



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Anal Sex, Awkward Crush, Blow Jobs, Denial of Feelings, Disasters, Hate to Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Misunderstandings, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-02-22
Updated: 2005-02-22
Packaged: 2018-01-16 10:55:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1344859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennyB/pseuds/JennyB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the mall roof collapses, Seto and Jou find themselves trapped together.  Can two people who can't stand each other work together in a survival situation, and what will happen after they're rescued?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

“Do you hear that?” the blond asked, cocking his head slightly to the side. “It sounds like…creaking.”

“I don’t hear a thing, Mutt,” Kaiba retorted. “Maybe it’s a dog whistle, and only you can hear it.”

“Fuck Kaiba, shut up and listen for once!” Jou snapped, listening intently. After a few moments, there was a sound like cracking glass, and both teens looked at each other with concern. “You see? I told you I heard something!”

The brunet frowned thoughtfully, taking in his surroundings. The mall was alive with the usual bustle of shoppers, and aside from the two of them, no one else seemed to notice anything unusual. “You’re an idiot,” Kaiba said finally, as he folded his arms across his chest, a smug smirk on his face. “You have an overactive imagination, that’s all. Someone probably dropped a vase. Maybe you should spend less time killing your brain cells in front of the television.”

Jou could feel the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. Slowly balling his hands into fists and clenching his teeth, he growled, “Go to hell, Kaiba.” He was about to lash out verbally, as well as physically, at the brunet when something behind the taller teen caught his attention. His eyes widened in disbelief; was that…snow? He looked up to see a small streamer of flakes falling in through the skylights two stories up. He furrowed his brow in confusion at the meteorological phenomenon before him. Suddenly, his eyes widened in comprehension, and going with his instincts, he grabbed a very surprised Kaiba by the wrist, and pulled the two of them to the floor in front of a concrete bench just as the world came crashing down on them.

* * *

As Jou slid his eyes open, he felt as if someone had hit him in the back of the head with a sledgehammer. Ignoring the screaming pain in his skull for a moment, he squinted his eyes and tried to take in his surroundings. The world was strangely out of focus, dark, and felt like it was covered by a thick fog. For a moment, he tried to recall where he was and what had happened. He felt a rise of panic in his throat – was he dead? No, he couldn’t be, he reasoned. Dead people didn’t feel pain; at least, he didn’t _think_ they did. So where was he? He remembered it was Friday, and it was a professional development day, so there was no school. He’d gone to see Yugi, but the short teen had been committed to helping out in his grandfather’s store for the day. Honda had been heading out to meet Otogi, although why anyone would want to go for a motorcycle ride in the middle of February was anyone’s guess. He vaguely remembered having a quick cup of tea with Anzu, then deciding to spend the rest of the day at the mall. He remembered coming in by the food court and putting his jacket in one of the lockers. He had done some shopping, and then he had gone to ‘Ribbons and Ponies’, his sister’s favourite clothing store, and had bought her a cute pink t-shirt with a kitten on it. He had wanted to get her something for when she came to visit next month. With a groan he remembered being accosted by a throng of giggling adolescent girls. He had managed to escape relatively unscathed, thankful for the fact that he was tall and therefore, unkissable. When he had gone down to the lower level, he had run into Kaiba. They had argued for a bit, and then…

“Holy shit!” Jounouchi said aloud as he was slammed back into reality, the fog lifting from his eyes like some surreal curtain. “The roof!” He looked around and saw he was in a cocoon of debris. Roofing tiles, wood, electrical wire, insulation, bricks, broken glass and other detritus he couldn’t identify littered the small area he was currently huddled in. He listened to hear if he could make out any other sounds, but found that an eerie silence engulfed him. As he tried to peer into the depths of the darkness that surrounded him, he became very aware of a heavy weight on his left foot. He felt himself pale as he realized just what, or rather _who_ , was currently draped across his lower extremities.

He tried to reach out to Kaiba with his hand but found that with his leg immobilized, he couldn’t quite stretch that far. After worrying his bottom lip in contemplation, he gently prodded the brunet with his right foot as he tentatively whispered, “Kaiba?” When he got no response, he drew back his right leg as far as he was able to and delivered a well-placed kick to what he thought felt like the brunet’s ass. This time, he heard a low groan followed by a spasm of coughing. Feeling Kaiba stir made him feel more at ease, despite his current predicament. ‘Probably,’ he thought, ‘because I’m not stuck in here in the dark with a DEAD GUY!’ He shuddered at the idea, inadvertently delivering another soft kick to the brunet.

“Mutt,” came the hoarse, irritated growl from the darkness by his feet. “Kick me again, and I’ll see to it that your walking days are over.”

“Then get the fuck off my foot and I won’t be so twitchy!” Jou replied huffily. He heard the indignant snort from below, then felt Kaiba shift sideways and off of Jou’s body. The blond immediately drew his knees up to his chest and with some effort managed to turn his body around so his head was now down by the brunet’s. Now able to see the form of his companion, he asked, “Hey Kaiba, are you okay?”

“No thanks to you,” Kaiba replied haughtily. If it hadn’t been for you and your idiocy, I’d probably be on my way home right now.”

“If it hadn’t been for my –“ Jou screeched in disbelief. “Shit, if it hadn’t been for me, you’d probably be a smear on the concrete by now, not that it’d be a totally bad thing...Prick.”

“I suppose now you expect me to pay you, eh? To fawn all over you for saving my life?”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Kaiba, I don’t want your money. Hell, would it kill you to say ‘thank you’, or even better, to stop fucking insulting me all the time?”

Kaiba rolled his eyes, and quipped, “Yes, _thank you_ Jounouchi for getting me trapped in this suburban hell with you.”

“Fuck you, Kaiba!” Propping himself up, he shuffled his body back as far away from the brunet as was possible, curling up his legs to put even more distance between them.

“In your dreams,” the brunet replied, shifting himself into a semi-sitting position and feeling around in his pockets. Jou flipped him the finger, but in the relative darkness, the impact of the gesture was lost – nevertheless, the blond found the action surprisingly therapeutic. Ignoring the snicker of amusement from Jou, Kaiba pulled out a small, metal object and flipped it open. Immediately, the area was flooded with a faint, blue light.

“What are you doing?” the blond asked curiously.

Kaiba stared at him across their space, the faint light making his already cold, blue eyes appear ghostly and even frostier. “This is called a cell phone,” he answered condescendingly, as if placating a toddler. “I’m going to call Mokuba and tell him where we are located so that the rescuers know we’re here, and can come find us. God help me if I have to spend any more time here with you than I must. In the meantime, make yourself useful and keep quiet.”

Resting his chin on his elbows, Jou looked down at the floor and muttered, “It won’t work.”

“Hn. We’ll see,” Kaiba replied testily as he punched the buttons with perhaps a bit too much vigor. After a few seconds, the light on the phone went out and the brunet angrily threw his phone to the side. “Useless!” he exclaimed in exasperation.

“Problems?” Jou asked innocently, smirking as he heard Kaiba grumbling in the darkness. When he received no answer, he decided to press further. “I told you that it wouldn’t work.”

“Yes, thank you Amazing Kreskin,” Kaiba snapped sourly.

“Do you want to know what I think?” Jou asked after a moment’s contemplation.

The brunet sighed irritably. “First of all, I find it highly doubtful that you actually _think_ , given your daily imbecilic actions. Second of all, I am not in the mood to hear your voice.”

Completely disregarding him, Jou said, “Yeah, ok. I think that we should try to dig our way out of this stuff and see what we’re dealing with.”

“Hn. Right, then we disturb the delicate balance that the cave-in caused and wind up dead.” After a brief pause, Kaiba gave a contemptuous snort. “All right, I’ll entertain this ridiculous idea. Just where do you propose we go?”

“Well, anything’s got to be better than this little area we’re in. Man, my legs are so cramped it’s not even funny. If we got out of here, at least we could be in the light and see how much damage there is. And, if we can, there’s a security office about 10 metres behind you. It’s probably a lot more comfortable than the linoleum.” Without waiting for Kaiba’s reply, Jou gingerly pushed on the side of the debris beside him, feeling immense satisfaction when he was able to shift it. When he had finally made a large enough hole to peek out of, he looked up to the ceiling to see an immense, gaping hole in the roof. “Holy crap! It looks like most of the roof is gone!”

“You’re eloquence amazes me once again, Mutt. Just tell me, can we get out of this?”

“Uh, hold on…yeah, it doesn’t look like there’s too much stuff directly on top of us. We got pretty lucky, eh?” Jounouchi shoved the pile with his shoulder and was able to wriggle himself free from the small confines. Standing up, he looked around and let out a long, low whistle. He was standing in a 10x10 area that was relatively free from destruction, but all around him was snow, wreckage, and the faint amounts of daylight that had managed to filter down to them. “Wow, Kaiba, this is pretty bad! It looks like half the mall came down on itself. I’m glad we were on the bottom floor, otherwise it would have been one hell of a ride!”

“Terrific. Now are you going to give me a hand or not?” came a muffled voice from within their shelter.

“What? Oh, yeah, hang on a sec.” Jou pulled aside a large ceiling tile and said, “That’s the best I can do, Kaiba; this shit’s heavier than it looks. Come on, I think you can fit through.”

“You have got to be joking,” Kaiba replied indignantly.

“You’re not even going to try? Fine. Just remember this, we’re in the middle of the mall. And, if this was the central point of collapse, which it looks like, we’re going to be the last ones rescued anyway.”

“So now you’re an architect? A structural engineer?” the brunet scoffed.

Jou shook his head in annoyance. “That’s right, Kaiba, keep being an asshole. Fuck it, you’re on your own, Moneybags.” He let go of the tile, which bent back, effectively imprisoning the brunet.

“Wait!” Kaiba called, and Jou was sure he could detect a faint note of panic in the other’s voice. “Jounouchi, come back!”

“Why should I?” Jou demanded.

“Because I…I…I’m…claustrophobic.”

Jou’s eyes widened in surprise at this revelation, but he maintained his angry tone with the brunet. “Yeah, well maybe you should have thought of that _before_ you insulted me.”

“Jounouchi!..Please?” The voice was near pleading, almost pathetic.

The blond sighed. He knew he’d never forgive himself if he just abandoned Kaiba…even if he was an arrogant, self-righteous bastard and deserved to be left alone. He pulled the ceiling tile aside again, and when he saw Kaiba emerge, he even offered the brunet a hand up. Now free, Kaiba took in a deep breath of air and drew himself up to his full height, brushing as much dust and snow as he could off of his trench coat.

Jou stared in amazement at his companion. It blew his mind that Kaiba had a weakness – that he was…human. Kaiba always seemed so together, so in control, and in his moment of vulnerability, Jou had felt a surge of compassion for the CEO. Now as he watched Kaiba preen, he was equally amazed at how quickly the brunet had reverted to his expressionless self.

Turning to his rescuer, Kaiba noticed the stunned expression on the shorter teen’s face. “What?” he snapped brusquely.

Obviously embarrassed at having been caught staring, Jou turned his attention to a very riveting piece of insulation that was hanging in front of him. Absently batting at it with his hand, he asked softly, “Are you really claustrophobic, or did you just say that because you knew I’d feel bad about leaving you and come back?”

Kaiba coughed and cleared his throat as a faint pink tinge coloured his cheeks. Grateful for the dim lighting, he turned his back to the blond and stared straight ahead of him.

“You know, it’s ok if you are, Kaiba. Everyone’s afraid of something. What I don’t get is how come you didn’t seem that nervous _before_ I left?” He saw the brunet’s shoulders tense, and Jou knew he wasn’t going to be getting an answer anytime soon. With a sigh, he changed the subject. “Yeah, so the security office is that way, and…”

“How do you know where the security office is, Mutt?” Kaiba asked, interrupting him, glancing at the blond over his shoulder.

“Uh, let’s just say I haven’t always been an angel and leave it at that. Now, if we can get over that pile of stuff there, we should be ok. It looks pretty solid, but we’ll have to test it.”

“Why don’t we just head for an exit?”

“You see an exit anywhere that’s even _remotely_ close to here and not buried under a ton of crap? I told you before; we’re in the middle of the mall. Unless you want me to repel up through that hole in the roof…” He saw the quirked eyebrow and contemplative expression Kaiba wore, and he cursed loudly. “No way, no fucking way will you get me to repel out of a building. If you want to, YOU do it.” He saw a smirk slowly creep across the brunet’s face, and Jou scowled in annoyance as he realized Kaiba had been toying with him. “Asshole,” he muttered under his breath as he purposefully walked towards the security office, silently fuming and wishing he had left Kaiba there after all.


	2. Chapter Two

“Aw, hell! It didn’t look this big from over there!” Jou whined as he stood in front of the pile of debris partially blocking the security door. He backed up a few steps and surveyed the area from a slightly different angle. “I guess on the plus side, the door swings inward, so we won’t have to move as much stuff…” He carefully climbed up the one side, testing his weight with each step. Satisfied that his footings were solid, he began to toss aside pieces of the rubble, silently rethinking his opinion of Karmic retribution. A few times, Jou almost hit Kaiba with a small piece of brick or a bit of wood in his zeal to clear the area (and to make a subtle point about the lack of assistance from the brunet). And, although he bore the brunt of Kaiba’s anger whenever there was yet another ‘near miss’, Jou felt that if he could hit him, just once, it would more than make up for any punishment Seto Kaiba could think up and dish out.

Gaining access to the door was a lot easier than Jou had dared hope. The debris had been loosely piled, the majority of the wreckage in the area confined to the upper concourse. It wasn’t long before he had cleared away enough so that he could access the doorknob with some ‘creative’ reaching. Bracing one hand against the doorjamb, Jou leaned over the pile and tried to turn the knob, but it wouldn’t budge. “Damn it!” he swore, mildly annoyed.

“What’s the problem now?” Kaiba asked.

“Door’s locked. No biggie though, I think I can pick it. I just need you to hold onto my feet until I get it unlocked, because I need both hands to do this.”

The brunet carefully stepped his way through the wreckage, stopping when he was within a foot of Jou’s feet. “And how, exactly, do you propose to do that?”

The blond rolled partially over onto his side, jamming his hand into the pocket of his jeans. Subconsciously, Kaiba’s eyes quickly trailed down Jou’s long, lean frame before flicking back up to Jou’s face. He gave his head an imperceptible shake and returned his focus to what the blond was doing. After a moment, Jou pulled out what looked like a small switchblade knife and grinned. “With this.”

“And what, _exactly_ is that?” Kaiba asked.

With a deft flick of his wrist, Jounouchi flipped out all the tools and fanned them into a neat array. Rolling his eyes and imitating Kaiba’s earlier patronizing tone in an attempt to irritate the brunet, he answered, “What the hell do you think, Kaiba? I said I was going to pick the lock, and funny enough, these are lock picks.”

Kaiba’s eyes narrowed as a small frown creased his forehead. “And you happen to carry them around with you, because?..”

Jou felt his cheeks grow hot, and he mumbled, “Look, I told you that I wasn’t always an angel. I guess I keep these as sort of a memento…back in the day, this was the one thing I was really good at – best on the street.” He turned his eyes back to Kaiba, half expecting to hear some sarcastic remark, somewhat surprised when none came. “Besides, it’s not like I use them anymore, but you never know when they might come in handy. Now hold my feet.” The blond moved back onto his stomach and began to work in silent concentration while the brunet leaned his weight on Jou’s ankles.

Feeling the firm muscles twitch beneath his hands while the blond worked, Kaiba had a sudden urge to see if the rest of Jou’s body was just as…toned. He started to work his hands up the blond’s calves, noting with some appreciation that Jou’s lower legs were, indeed, quite well muscled. ‘What the hell is wrong with me?’ Kaiba thought, feeling a slight stirring in his groin. ‘It must be the lack of fresh air that has me fantasizing about the mutt, because there’s no way that an incompetent, inept...’ He was snapped from his musings by a faint ‘click’. He looked up in surprise and his gaze locked with Jou’s amber eyes.

“Damn, that feels good!”

Kaiba felt a flash of panic. ‘Oh God, he noticed!’ At a loss for words, he slipped his face into an unreadable mask and quirked an eyebrow at the blond, all the while thinking, ‘Feign indifference, feign indifference…’

“Bet you didn’t think I was going to get it, huh? I can see from the surprise on your face that you thought that,” Jou boasted smugly, oblivious to the real reason for the brunet’s state of mind. “Yep, feel free to thank me for my brilliant work,” he crowed, putting his hands up behind his head arrogantly.

Relieved that he hadn’t been caught, yet somehow irritated by the blond’s inattention to detail, he cast a scathing glare at Jounouchi. “’Brilliant’ isn’t the adjective I’d use to describe you right now,” he growled as he released his grip on the blond. With a startled yelp, Jou slipped backwards off the pile and through the open doorway, landing with a hard smack on his rear end.

“Ow! Fuck, that hurt!” Jou grumbled, rubbing his tailbone.

“Oh, sorry,” Kaiba smirked as he leaned over to see the blond sprawled on the ground. “By the way, I’m letting go of your ankles now.” He gracefully dropped through the opening and hauled the blond to his feet.

“Yeah, thanks for the advance warning, jackass,” Jou muttered to himself as he passed the brunet, giving him a not-so-gentle shove with his shoulder as he did so. The two teens fell silent as they took in their new surroundings. Large tiles littered the floor where they had been jarred loose from the drop ceiling, and several wires and cables were now protruding from the holes. The emergency access lights provided them with some illumination, but their power was sporadic, and quickly fading. “The security office is down at the end of the corridor; come on.”

The brunet nodded and waited for Jounouchi to lead the way. The pair had only taken a couple of steps when they heard another deafening crash behind them from where they had stood just moments before. Startled, Jou grabbed Kaiba’s hand, squeezing it tightly, feeling slightly comforted when he felt Kaiba squeezing back. After the adrenaline shock had worn off and his heart rate had returned to normal, Jou looked up at the brunet and said, “Looks like we got out of there just in time, eh?”

Kaiba said nothing; he merely nodded in a sort of amazed awe as he realized how close he had just come to being killed. If they hadn’t decided to head for the security office…the thought made him inwardly shudder. After a moment, a puzzled frown crept across his forehead, and he looked down to see Jounouchi’s hand entwined in his own. In disgust, he flung the blond’s hand out of his grasp.

“Sorry Kaiba,” the blond began, grinning sheepishly as he shrugged. “It was an uncontrollable reaction.”

Turning an infuriated gaze towards the blond, he snarled, “I’d suggest you learn some self-control, then. If you ever do that again, I’ll –“

“Screw you, Kaiba!” Jou interrupted him, obviously irritated. “Don’t start acting all like you’re better than me again. And that’s rich, you talking about getting some self-control! If I remember right, _you_ squeezed back!”

“I did no such thing!” Kaiba snapped indignantly, feeling his heart race slightly as he tried desperately to control the faint blush that was threatening to make a liar out of him.

“Defensive, aren’t we?” Jou quipped, his annoyance quickly ebbing as a mischievous smirk crept across his face. “You are so full of shit! Come on Kaiba; admit it.” Grinning like a Cheshire cat, he taunted, “You care about what happens to me.”

“What?” the brunet spat. “That’s…that’s preposterous! To think that I care about a worthless, idiotic, no-talent _nobody_ like you is the most ludicrous idea I’ve ever heard!”

“Whatever,” Jou said with a shrug and a dismissive wave of his hand. Turning on his heel, Jou continued on his way down the corridor. He carefully sidestepped a small bundle of cables, then turned back to face the brunet. “Hey Kaiba, you coming or not?” When Kaiba just scowled at him, he shook his head in irritation. “Fine, be that way!” he called down the corridor, fanning his arms out in a wide arc. As he did so, one of his hands brushed the bundle of cables.

As soon as he made contact, Jou let out a bloodcurdling scream, and began to convulse violently where he stood. Kaiba’s eyes widened in horror at the scene unfolding before him; the blond’s screams echoing in his ears.

“Jounouchi! Damn, hang on Jou!” He searched frantically for some way to pry the blond away from the wires, a look of concern mixed with determination on his face.

At that moment, Jounouchi released his hold on the cables and exploded into peals of uncontrollable laughter. Doubled over, with tears streaming down his face, he gasped, “Oh shit! Kaiba, you should have seen the look on your face! Priceless!” He looked over at the brunet, who now stood fuming in silent rage, which sent him into another fit of giggles. After a few minutes and still snickering, Jou managed to stand upright and said, “These are just wires for the security cameras – get a grip!” On hearing this news, Kaiba looked as though he were ready to grab the cables himself and personally strangle the blond where he stood. “Aw, come on Kaiba, consider it payback for knocking me on my ass back there.” He gave the brunet a playful slap on the arm, then opened the door to the security office. “Oh, and by the way, I think I made my point, too.” He winked playfully and said, “You really do care.”

* * *

Five minutes later, Kaiba had caught and tackled Jounouchi and was sitting on his chest, one hand holding down both his wrists. The brunet was currently leaning forward, his face mere inches from Jou’s, and he was staring at him with a menacing glare. “Well?” he growled, twisting the blond’s arms as he spoke.

“Ow! Damn it! Fine, I’m sorry I tricked you.” He felt Kaiba twist harder on his wrists. “Ouch! I’m sorry for making you think I was being electrocuted and for…” He turned his gaze away from the piercing, cold blue eyes. “I’m not going to apologize for proving that you care! Christ, do you realize how stupid that sounds? Come on, do you think you can let me up now, Mr. No-Sense-of-Humour?”

“Something stupid coming from you is no real surprise,” Kaiba drawled. “But I will let you go – for now.” In one fluid motion, Kaiba released his hold on Jou and stood up.

Rubbing his wrists as he sat up cross-legged on the floor, Jou whined, “You know, most people don’t freak out over being called compassionate. You’re a fucking piece of work, do you know that?” He watched with some interest as Kaiba rummaged through the desk drawers and cupboards in the office. “What are you looking for?”

“Flashlights.”

“Oh. Any luck?”

Kaiba nodded. “I’ve found three; and fortunately for us, they all work.”

“That’s good; there’s no natural light down here.” He warily eyed the flickering safety lights. “So, do you want to play Duel Monsters for a while?”

“Playing against you is no challenge; I’ve demonstrated that numerous times. Besides, I don’t have my deck with me.”

“We could split my deck, just for fun,” Jou offered hopefully.

Kaiba snorted in amusement. “I’ve seen your deck, Mutt; it’s pathetic. No thanks.” He sat down in the large desk chair.

Dejected, Jou flopped down on the rickety sofa and sighed. “So…Do you think they’re looking for us yet?”

“I would imagine so…as long as the area has been declared safe.” Kaiba saw the quizzical look the blond was giving him. “Safe for rescue personnel to enter.”

“I wonder how long it will be before they find us.”

Regarding this as a statement rather than a question, Kaiba leaned back in the chair, tenting his fingers in front of him in quiet contemplation. He thought about Mokuba, and wondered what his younger sibling was doing at this moment. ‘Probably worried, and…damn it! He’s going to be all alone tonight...or longer.’ He squeezed his eyes shut and let out an exasperated snort.

“Is something the matter?” Jou asked softly, cautiously sidling over to where the brunet sat.

“Is something the matter?” Kaiba mocked in an overly whiney tone, parroting Jou. “No, everything is sunshine and roses and rainbows and kittens.” He spun his chair to face the blond. “Are you an idiot? Why would you ask such a stupid question?” he snapped, the stress of the situation finally getting to him. The blond, caught off guard by Kaiba’s outburst, took a step backwards in defence, his arms out in front of him protectively, just in case. After glaring at him for a moment, Kaiba sat back in his chair, his fingers gently massaging his temples.

Hesitantly, Jou said, “But, I just thought…”

Kaiba stood up angrily, shoving his chair out from behind him in response as he interrupted. “ _That’s_ your first mistake, Mutt. You _thought_!” He snatched the runaway office chair and flopped himself back down into it, his eyes narrowed, his teeth bared in a snarl.

A look of hurt mixed with confusion briefly flashed across Jou’s face, followed by one of understanding. He nodded his head silently, and returned to his place on the sofa, his back to the brunet, his knees drawn up to his chest. He chewed nervously on his bottom lip, considering his next course of action, then, with his back still to Kaiba, he mumbled, “I’m sure Yugi has taken care of Mokuba by now.”

Kaiba’s eyes widened in amazement at the astuteness shown by the blond, and he could feel his anger subsiding. Curious, he asked, “How –“

Jou turned slightly to cast a serious glance at the other and shrugged. “If it were me in your place, I’d have been wondering the same thing. Besides, haven’t you noticed that the two little guys always stick together? Mokuba thinks highly of Yugi, and Yug…well, he looks out for Mokuba as if he were his own brother. Hell, he’d do anything for Mokuba…or you.” He regarded the brunet for a moment longer before once again turning his back to him.

Kaiba sat and mulled over Jou’s words. Through everything, Yugi, his greatest rival, was a true friend to Mokuba – and he had befriended him unconditionally. Hell, _all_ of that group cared for Mokuba, and for reasons that still eluded him, they cared for him, too. ‘Hn. Maybe Mokuba is a better judge of people than I originally gave him credit for.’ He stared at the hunched back of Jounouchi, and felt a slight twinge of guilt; not for having blown up at him, but for…scaring him? No. Hurting him? Kaiba sighed heavily. ‘This can’t be happening,’ he thought warily.

“Mutt? Er…Jou?” he began tentatively. “About what I said a few minutes ago…” He was interrupted by a dismissive wave of the blond’s hand. Taking a deep breath and forcing himself to press on, he continued, “I’ve just got a lot on my mind. I…apologize…for overreacting.” As he watched the rhythmic breathing of the blond, he thought to himself, ‘Not that it would, but _if_ it ever came down to it, I suppose Jou’s not really that bad, especially when he’s still and quiet-‘

“What time is it?”

‘So much for that thought,’ Kaiba thought, sighing to himself. “Almost 6:30.”

“Oh. That’s probably why I’m so hungry.” As if on cue, Jou’s stomach rumbled loudly, voicing its protest at not having been fed.

Kaiba shook his head in exasperation. “Honestly Mutt, is that all you ever think about?”

“Well, I didn’t have lunch, and breakfast was a long time ago!” Kaiba smirked to himself. Indignant Jou, he quickly realized, was much better than pouty Jou. After a few moments, the silence was once again broken. “If I remember right, I think there’s a vending machine in the next room. Give me one of those flashlights.”

“Say ‘please’.”

Jou’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What?!”

Kaiba felt a smirk creep over his face as he rolled back over to the desk. “I said, say ‘please’, or you can come get it yourself,” he replied, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his chair.

“Fine…be an asshole,” Jou muttered as he snatched one of the battery-powered lanterns off of the table. “I’ll be back.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

“Fuck you, Kaiba,” Jou growled, closing the door behind him.


	3. Chapter Three

‘Damn that Kaiba,’ Jou thought to himself as he picked his way around the debris, angrily kicking a stray piece of fallen tile. He felt a little better when it hit the concrete wall with an echoing smack. Why did he always have to be such an – “Asshole!” Jou shouted angrily as he kicked the door leading to the employee lunchroom, which was thrown open violently. He entered the room, flicking on the flashlight as he stepped through the entrance. He swept the beam around the room, looking heavenward and thanking whatever deities were up there when it illuminated the candy machine across the room. Setting the flashlight down on a nearby table, he cracked his knuckles and smirked. These old style machines with the Plexiglas windows were a piece of cake.

Within ten minutes, Jou had managed to flex the window out of its track and was quickly pulling out everything he could reach. He spied an empty plastic shopping bag on the floor, and quickly dumped his booty inside, for ease of transport. He felt his stomach rumble again, and he took a moment to devour a chocolate bar, all the while thinking about the brunet. He was more than a little confused. Sometimes, the brunet was civil, almost _friendly_ even, and just when Jou would start to let his guard down, Kaiba would do a 180 degree change. It was if he had some internal switch that allowed him to change moods in the blink of an eye. ‘He’s got this whole Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing going on, except he’s better looking…even when he’s the monster.’ Giving his head a visible shake, he pushed those thoughts out of his mind and made one more sweep of the room, looking for anything that could be of later value to them.

* * *

As soon as Jou had left the room, Kaiba found himself feeling strangely alone. He shivered in the empty room, drawing his trench coat tighter around his body. The lack of electricity and the exposure to the winter air was finally taking its toll, and the building was rapidly cooling off. He frowned in concern as he realized that even though they were alive and well now, that could quickly change as more and more time passed. He glanced at his watch and saw that Jou had been gone for almost five minutes. He had no idea how long it would take the blond to complete his mission, but he began to worry nonetheless. Deciding that he needed to take his mind off the cold, (and, more importantly, a certain blond idiot!) he stood up and started exploring the small office. He was pleasantly surprised when he discovered a small bathroom tucked against the far wall that contained a sink and a toilet, but much to his chagrin, there was no running water.

The cupboards held nothing of interest – well, at least nothing useful. He had already retrieved the flashlights from the one cupboard, and now that he had some time to further investigate the contents, he found a stack of Styrofoam cups, instant coffee supplies, and some paper plates. The desk was equally useless; there was a stack of incident report forms, some paperclips and a few pens in the one drawer. The other drawer, much to his surprise and amusement, contained a pornographic magazine. ‘I’ll never understand why people waste their money on such things,’ he thought. He flipped to the centrefold, and rolled his eyes. The female model was completely nude, lying on a bearskin rug, her rear end up in the air and peering seductively over her shoulder towards the camera. He tossed the magazine aside and sat down on the tattered sofa. He snorted and thought with a smirk, ‘There’s absolutely nothing appealing about silicone and collagen. I wouldn’t know whether to touch her or stick her in a Mylar bag to keep her in mint condition.’ As he leaned back against the cushions, the image of Jou in that same pose flashed across his mind. He thought about Jou’s svelte, toned body highlighting every taut muscle, the wild tangle of flaxen blond hair, the long golden lashes that accented the deep, soulful amber eyes, his full, soft lips that taunted him with a seductive smirk… At the thought, Kaiba let out a low moan in spite of himself, and shifted uncomfortably on the cushion. ‘Oh no,’ he groaned in disbelief. ‘I can’t have a crush on the mutt!’

He stood up and began pacing back and forth, trying desperately to relieve the growing problem he had in his pants. His heart put forth a good argument, maintaining that Jou was not only extremely good looking, but he was also very passionate, loyal and honest. His brain countered by suggesting that he, Seto Kaiba, was far too busy and wasn’t even remotely interested in pursuing any sort of relationship; furthermore, the two of them were like night and day. Opposites make for an interesting affair, but nothing lasting could ever come out of it. Besides, opening up to someone would make him vulnerable…weak and easily exploitable. And for that reason alone, he should maintain the status quo. 

He heard a loud crack that sounded like a gunshot, and he froze mid-step. He wondered whether or not something had happened to Jou, and he listened intently for any sounds that would indicate the blond was in trouble. Torn between going to check on the blond and maintaining his emotionless façade, he stood at the doorway, his hand hovering over the knob. 

‘Go!’ his heart urged. ‘You really should make sure he’s ok; what if he’s injured and needs your help? Cold, unfeeling bastard!’

‘What’s this?’ his brain interrupted, mocking him. ‘Are you hesitating, Seto? Have you become indecisive? You’re pathetic…not worthy of the power you wield!’

“I am not indecisive!” he growled aloud as he flung open the door, revealing a very surprised looking Jounouchi, who was carrying a plastic bag in one hand, the other reaching for the doorknob, and now sporting a long, lime green sweater.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked, quirking a questioning eyebrow at the brunet.

Somewhat embarrassed at having been caught talking to himself, Kaiba searched his mind in vain trying to come up with a plausible answer. Unable to find one, he opted for changing the subject. “What the hell is that?” he demanded as he pointed at the blond, an amused smirk tugging at his lips and threatening to explode into a full-blown grin.

“Huh? What?” Jou asked, looking down at himself.

“That green monstrosity you have on. Where did you ever find such an article of ‘clothing’, and I use the term loosely?”

“It’s a sweater I found. I was cold, and this is warm, so I really don’t give a shit what it looks like.”

Kaiba eyed the polyester garment that looked more like a housedress than a sweater, which covered the blond all the way to his knees. “Right. First of all, that’s a _woman’s_ sweater. Second…you look like an atomic Fruit Roll-Up.”

“Yeah, you’re the real fucking authority on fashion,” Jou growled as he brushed past the brunet and into the room. Once inside, he dropped the bag on the desk and flopped down sulkily on the sofa.

“Aww, Mutt,” Kaiba cooed. “Don’t be like that; I’ve got good news. While you were gone, look what I found.” He crossed the room and opened the door to the bathroom.

“So?” Jou said coolly. He shrugged, “I guess I do have to pee…”

“You don’t understand. We have water to drink.”

“I’m not drinking out of the fucking toilet!” Jou exploded. “I’ve told you before, I’m not a damned dog!”

Kaiba rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “Not from the bowl, idiot. If you take the lid off the back of the tank, it’s fresh, clean water. Granted, it’s not my first choice either, but it beats the alternative.”

“Great,” Jou answered peevishly. “Chocolate bars and toilet water. Let the good times roll.”

* * *

By the time they had finished eating, Jou was in a much better mood. It was a given that he would have preferred a nice warm meal to the candy, but he was never one to complain when it came to junk food. He had even, somewhat reluctantly, drank some of the water; but only after seeing Kaiba do it first to prove it wasn’t some trick designed to humiliate him. His basic needs now satisfied, Jou sighed forlornly.

“What is it now?” Kaiba asked, once more pulled from his thoughts. “You’ve been fed, watered…you’ve visited the hydrant…”

“I’m bored!” Jou whined. “Never in my entire life have I ever just sat still doing _nothing_.”

“So? What do you think I am? Your entertainment director? I think not.”

“You don’t want to talk, and you won’t play cards with me…”

“Play with yourself, then,” Kaiba responded frostily.

Jou’s eyes widened in surprise and he snickered. “Say again?”

Realizing his faux pas about ten seconds too late, the brunet cleared his throat in embarrassment and said, “Real mature. Play _by_ yourself.”

The blond shook his head. “That’s no fun; besides, there’s not enough light to see by.”

Kaiba nodded. “Hn. Looks like those emergency lights are just about finished.” 

“I noticed.” Jou sighed again. He sat in silence for a short while, and then started humming softly to himself. After a few minutes, Kaiba was finally able to recognize the tune – ‘I’m Henry the Eighth I Am’. By the fifth time through, the blond had added in the words, and by the seventh time, it was being sung at considerable volume. And, by the twelfth time, Kaiba had his jaw clenched and was staring at the blond with a murderous look in his eye. When Jou started the thirteenth chorus, the brunet had had more than enough. Tackling him, Kaiba had Jou pinned, one hand clamped over the blond’s mouth. Leaning in close, he whispered ominously, “Sing it again, and they’ll never find the body. Do you understand me?”

Jou’s eyes widened in surprise, and he tried to answer, but with the brunet’s hand over his mouth, his response was muffled and incoherent, so he settled for an enthusiastic nod of his head.

“Good,” Kaiba whispered as he slid his hand away and allowed the blond to sit up.

“Jesus, you’re so melodramatic,” Jou complained as he glared at the brunet, rubbing the back of his head. “Have you ever considered anger management classes? Fuck, if you wanted me to stop, all you had to do was ask me. You know, the way ‘normal’ people would?”

Kaiba snorted in amusement. “Whatever, Mutt. You’re not exactly the poster child for ‘normal’ yourself.”

“Yeah, well, at least I’m not a…a…psycho!”

“Ooh, good comeback,” Kaiba replied tartly. “How many brain cells did you strain to come up with that gem?”

“Bite me, Kaiba,” Jou said crossly, lapsing back into silence. After a few minutes, the blond started humming again, but one glare from Kaiba quickly silenced him. “Shit, this is worse than detention.”

The brunet smirked, “Well, you would be the resident expert on that subject…” He rolled his eyes when he saw Jou give him the finger. “All right Mutt, since you feel like talking so much, I’ve got a question for you.”

“Yeah? What do you want to know?”

“What did you mean when you said you weren’t always an angel?”

Jou’s eyes darkened and he frowned. Crossing his arms across his chest, he said coolly, “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“I see,” Kaiba said frostily. “First I couldn’t get you to shut up for five minutes, and now you don’t feel like talking.”

“That’s right,” Jou snapped. “I’ve done a lot of things in the past that I’m not really proud of, and I really don’t feel like telling you all about them. You already look down at me as it is; why the fuck would I willingly give you one more thing to lord over me?”

“Do you really think so little of me that I’d do something like that?” Kaiba hissed as he stared icily across the room.

“Well hell, Kaiba! It’s not like you’ve given us much chance to think otherwise! From the first day I met you, you’ve done nothing but insult me, talk down to me, act like I don’t exist…” Jou glared at him, his eyes a mixture of anger, hurt and frustration. “It’s not like I’ve never tried, either. And, for some STUPID reason, I still try. But you know what? You’re right…I am just a screw up. You’ve been right all along; boy, you had me all figured out right from the start, didn’t you? Are you happy now?” He felt his lower lip tremble slightly, and tears of aggravation prickle at the corners of his eyes, but he was determined not to give the brunet the satisfaction of seeing him cry. “And still, _still_ , after all this, after everything, all I ever wanted was for…I thought…you…we…just…shit!” Coherent thought eluding him for the moment, he shouted in exasperation, “Screw you, Kaiba!” He turned away from the brunet, curling his body up in the cushions of the sofa. 

The next twenty minutes passed in absolute silence. Jou remained cocooned in the sofa cushions leaving Kaiba alone with his thoughts. ‘So,’ a little voice taunted him. ‘Methinks Seto doth protest too much…Well, it’s probably for the better. After all, who wants devotion and companionship anyway? Not you…you’ve got your walls to keep you warm.’ As his internal monologue kept replaying in an endless loop, the brunet sat in miserable solitude. Finally, unable to take the quiet any longer, he stood up and walked over to where Jou sat. “Jou?” Although his voice was barely more than a whisper, it seemed to echo like a firecracker in the room. When he got no response, he gently shook the blond. He watched as Jou’s head lolled to the side, and he heard the soft, slow breathing indicative of sleep.

For several moments, Kaiba watched Jou sleep, but from the expression on his face, it was anything but a peaceful slumber. In trepidation, he reached a hand out towards the sleeping form, finally allowing himself to tenderly stroke the soft golden locks. Immediately, the blond’s worried frown transformed itself into a neutral mask and he mumbled, “Seto, why don’t you like me? I like you…”

Kaiba was somewhat taken aback by Jou’s use of his first name; nevertheless, he found he liked the way it sounded coming from the blond’s lips. With no one around to witness, Kaiba’s expression softened and as he continued to caress the silken tresses he whispered, “I know you would never believe me, but I do understand you; in fact, better than you think. You see, I know what you want…I think it’s what we both want…” That said, he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the blond’s lips, relishing in the forbidden gesture.


	4. Chapter Four

It was early morning, and Jounouchi was having a wonderful dream. He was sprawled out on a large bed covered with satin sheets, and he was gloriously naked. As he moved, the soft fabric grazed across the head of his semi-erect penis, causing him to let out a small gasp of pleasure. As he blinked open his eyes, he saw the golden summer sunlight streaming in through the partially drawn shades, bathing everything in a warm, buttery glow.

He heard the soft breathing next to him, and he turned to face the most incredible pair of eyes he had ever seen; they were dark blue like a tropical ocean, and deep with mystery, yet warm and inviting. A smile playing on his lips, Jou nestled against the brunet’s side, burying his face in the smooth, muscled chest, breathing in the sweet, heady musk that clung to the bare skin, reminding him of their session of lovemaking from the night before. 

He saw the pert little nipple taunting him as it peeked out from the edge of the sheet, practically begging him to nip it. A mischievous smirk crept across the blond’s face as he flicked out his tongue to taste the sweet…wool?

Jou cracked open one sleepy eye and took in his surroundings, his one hand frantically trying to de-fuzz his tongue. As his memory slowly came back to him, he remembered sadly that he wasn’t in an erotic summer fantasy, but a cold, wintry reality. But why did he feel so warm? Puzzled, he lifted his head and saw that he was currently snuggled in tightly to the side of Seto Kaiba. The brunet was still sleeping, his body turned slightly towards Jou, his head resting lightly against him. He had one hand snaked around the blond’s back in a gentle embrace, the other hand was resting purposefully on Jou’s thigh. 

The thought of being this close to Kaiba sent a flush of colour straight to the blond’s cheeks, and he silently wondered to himself when, and more importantly, why, the brunet had joined him on the sofa? After the words they had exchanged last night… He was startled from his thoughts when Kaiba’s hand shifted position, brushing the side of Jou’s penis. 

“Ah, shit!” Jou yelped, as he quickly jumped up to put some distance between the two of them, waking the brunet in the process.

Kaiba looked sleepily at him and said in a hoarse morning voice, “What’s up, Pup?” Snickering at his rhyme, he stretched his long limbs, and regarded the blond with questioning interest.

“Oh, ‘morning, Kaiba. I was just…uh…” While Jou’s brain frantically scrambled for an answer, he was infinitely thankful for the long, loose green sweater that was currently camouflaging his…predicament. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms thoughtfully across his chest and asked, “So, how did you sleep?”

The brunet shrugged, “As well as could be expected, given the circumstances.”

Jou nodded. “Yeah, me too. So, um, I didn’t know you were going to be sleeping on the sofa, too…”

Kaiba smirked, “I didn’t know you had the rights to it, Mutt.”

The blond frowned. “Shit, you don’t waste any time before you’re right back at it, do you?” he demanded irritably. “I was just saying that if I’d have known, I’d have made sure you had enough room, that’s all.”

“I managed quite fine,” Kaiba responded, noting the defensive edge to Jounouchi’s voice. Changing the subject, he quipped, “I could really go for a toothbrush and a cup of strong coffee right now.”

The blond smiled and said, “Not me. What I could go for is a big, juicy cheeseburger.” A dreamy expression passed over his face as he added, “With lots of ketchup.”

Kaiba looked at him as though he had three heads. “A cheeseburger for breakfast?” he asked incredulously. “Ugh, we really need to work on your eating habits.”

Jou grinned and replied, “Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Besides, my eating habits are just fine.” He grabbed a chocolate bar off the table and devoured it, watching with extreme satisfaction the look of disgust on the brunet’s face. “So, I guess you’re not having breakfast with me then, huh?” Jou asked, smiling around a mouthful of candy, snickering when he saw Kaiba give a firm shake of his head.

By the time Jou was tearing into his fifth candy bar, Kaiba had taken one of the flashlights and set it up on the desk. Overnight, the power in the emergency lights had faded to a trickle, and they were now providing barely enough illumination to make out the shapes of objects in the room. Flicking on the lantern, Kaiba returned to the sofa and said, “There, that’s a little bit better.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Jou added, sitting on the opposite cushion. For several moments, he said nothing; he merely stared at the brunet, his head cocked slightly to the side, a confused expression on his face. For a while, Kaiba tried to ignore the inquisitive gaze, but eventually, he found the silent, amber stare somewhat unnerving.

“Cut it out,” Kaiba snapped.

Jou blinked in surprise. “What?”

“You’re staring at me. Quit it.”

“Oh. Sorry…I didn’t realize it.” Jou dropped his eyes to his lap, still wearing the same expression.

Kaiba sighed. “Ok, let’s hear it.” Jounouchi opened his mouth as if to speak, but the brunet held up a hand to silence him. “You look like you’re trying to decipher quantum physics. What’s on your mind?”

Jou blushed deeply and whispered, “I can’t…don’t want to talk about it.”

There was an eerie deja-vu like quality to Jou’s words, but seeing Jou’s sudden glow caused Kaiba’s heart to skip a beat. “Jou?” he prodded gently, the coldness fading from his voice. Tenderly, he cupped the blond’s chin in his hand and tilted his face towards him. “I think I know the answer to your question.” Leaning in, he placed a gentle kiss on Jou’s lips, moaning softly when he felt the blond respond to his touch.

If the previous night’s stolen kiss had been sweet, this one willingly returned was like ambrosia. His head dizzy with pleasure, Kaiba slowly deepened the kiss, allowing himself to fully taste the blond. When he pulled away, the brunet licked his bottom lip slowly, still savouring the sweetness of chocolate mixed with the saltiness of Jou’s skin. Momentarily sated, he glanced at the blond through half-lidded sultry eyes. “Well?”

Jou sat there, his eyes large, his fingers pressed to his lips. What the hell had just happened? Did he dare hope? Confused by the brunet’s sudden display of affection, Jou found his thoughts whirling around in his head. “Kaiba, I don’t understand…” He looked over at Kaiba, finding his expression unreadable. Both nervous and apprehensive, he clumsily blurted out, “Is this for real?”

A look of hurt mixed with disappointment flashed briefly across Kaiba’s face. “Apparently not,” Kaiba replied quietly, his eyes cold and emotionless as he glowered at Jounouchi.

The blond quirked an eyebrow and opened his mouth to reply, but promptly snapped it closed. Cocking his head inquisitively to the side, he heard a faint scratching at the door. Jumping up from his place, he opened the door, admitting a large German shepherd into the room. The dog was wearing a red smock and was wagging its tail and vocalizing loudly. “Hey buddy!” Jou greeted as he knelt down and stroked the soft, thick fur, receiving an enthusiastic lick to the face in return.

“Nice to see you’re bonding with a member of your own kind,” Kaiba said coolly.

“Ha ha, very funny,” Jou responded as the brunet brushed past him and into the hallway. “This is a rescue dog, Kaiba! They’ve found us! We can go home!” 

“Good. The sooner I can put this, _all of this_ behind me, the better.” He glared at the blond and strode out into the hallway, towards the flashlights of the rescue workers.

Within five minutes of their liberation, the media had swarmed them, eagerly shoving microphones and Dictaphones in their faces as they fired a myriad of questions at them. Jou found the attention somewhat overwhelming. Turning to Kaiba in an effort to relieve the awkwardness he felt, he quipped, “Hell, I’ll take the peace and quiet of the security office over this!” His face fell when the brunet merely scowled at him before turning his back to him. Puzzled, he furrowed his brow and asked hotly, “What the hell’s wrong with you? Ever since we’ve been rescued, you’ve been acting like a complete asshole!” Kaiba rounded on him violently, his eyes brimming with malice, almost daring the blond to continue speaking. Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, Jou took a deep breath and pressed on. “If this is about what happened in there…you know, between us…I just…”

“Save it,” Kaiba snapped, interrupting him. His shoulders tensed slightly and he hissed caustically, “It meant nothing.” He strode purposefully towards his waiting limo and after receiving a quick hug from Mokuba, he climbed inside without looking back at the bewildered blond. Once situated inside, he released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. ‘Damn it,’ he cursed to himself as he felt a stinging sensation that was causing his eyes to water. He glanced at his puzzled younger brother and stated, “Dust allergies.” Whether or not his younger sibling believed him, Kaiba didn’t care. The important thing was for him to convince himself.

* * *

Shortly after watching Kaiba drive away, Jou began the long trudge home, extremely grateful when Yugi and company drove up in Otogi’s car offering him a ride. Anzu immediately jumped out of the vehicle and flung her arms around the blond, hugging him tightly.

“Oh Jou!” she sobbed. “We thought that we had lost you for good!”

The blond patted her on the back as comfortingly as he could while he tried to extricate himself from the stranglehold she had around his neck. “Yeah, I missed you too, Anzu,” Jou said as he tried to mask his unhappiness, hoping that he sounded sincere.

Honda slapped him amicably on the back, then started taunting him about the lime green sweater. “Shit, Jou, I think I’m going to get you a gift certificate to the Sweater Shack for your next birthday!” he gasped, exploding into gales of laughter. 

“Fuck you, Honda!” Jou seethed in disgust, tearing the garment from his body; he felt he’d much prefer the stinging chill of the winter air to Honda’s jeering.

“Ah, sorry, man,” Honda replied, grinning at his friend. “But seriously, you need to get that stick out of your ass. I think you spent too much time with Kaiba over the last day; you’re starting to sound like him!”

“Shut up, Honda!” Jou warned.

“Come on, Jou! Don’t tell me you actually _liked_ hanging out with the guy? I mean, he’s arrogant, stuck-up, anal-retentive…”

“I said shut up,” Jou repeated, clenching his hands into fists.

“He’s got no personality, and no emotion. God, can you imagine if he ever got a girlfriend? He’d probably make her schedule an appointment to fuck him three months in advance!”

“You don’t know shit, Honda!” Jou shouted, cold-cocking his friend and knocking him to the ground.

“Honda!” Otogi cried, then turned and punched Jou in the face, causing the blond to momentarily see stars.

By this time, Honda had staggered to his feet and lunged at his friend; however, Otogi got in the way and was effectively tackled to the ground by the brunet. Anzu and Yugi, over their initial shock at the blond’s reaction jumped into the fray and managed to separate the three brawlers. When the dust had settled, Honda had a trickle of blood running from his nose, Otogi’s lip was bleeding from where he had bitten it in the fall, and a black eye was beginning to appear on Jounouchi. Honda and Jou stared each other down for a few moments until finally Jou extended his hand to the brunet. “Fuck, I’m sorry, pal. But I warned you to cut it out and well, you didn’t.”

Honda glared at him for a moment before he accepted the handshake and said grudgingly, “Yeah, I know. You’d think that after all these years, I’d have learned that by now. Seriously though, I never thought you of all people would defend Kaiba like that!”

“Let it go, Hon,” Jou cautioned. “End of discussion.”

The brunet nodded in understanding, then turned to Otogi who was staring at him in silent confusion. Grinning, he said, “This is how Jou and I have always settled our differences. Guess it’s part of our ‘unique’ friendship. Sorry you had to become an unwitting casualty. Next time, just watch from the side, ok?” He winked and threw an arm around the raven-haired teen, who gave him a reluctant smile in return. “Come on guys, let’s go get something to eat – I’ll buy!”

* * *

Later that evening, Jounouchi was lying on his bed and moping. He raised his hand up to his left cheek, wincing when he touched the large purple bruise – a painful reminder of the day. Obsessed with figuring out where he had erred with the brunet, he had begged off going out with the gang, claiming he wasn’t feeling that well, and needed to lie down. In reality, this wasn’t really that far from the truth. His stomach felt like it was in knots, and his thoughts were racing out of control as his mind kept switching between the inexplicable bliss of the kiss and the crushing words Kaiba had spoken minutes later. Something had happened between their embrace and their rescue, and the harder Jou thought about it, the more it made his head hurt. Frustrated, he flipped on the television. It was the end of some business show, and a rerun at that; nothing of real interest to the blond.

Jou’s head perked up when he saw a brief glimpse of Kaiba on the screen, and he scrambled frantically for the mute button on the remote so he could hear the conversation.

“Well, Mr. Kaiba, thank you very much for your time. As always, your views have been very insightful, and will undoubtedly be of great use in boardrooms across the continent.”

“It was a pleasure,” the brunet replied, a contemptuous smirk on his lips. “I enjoy providing others with real world applications of business theories.”

The camera panned back to the newscaster, who gave a forced laugh. “Yes, and once again, it’s great to have you back with us. Tonight’s report focused on risk taking in the business world. According to our guest, in most cases it’s always best to glean as much information as possible rather than rushing blindly into what looks to be a sure thing. Yes, risk can bring great rewards, but the possibility of the whole deal backfiring is real, too. Join us tomorrow night when my guest will be the head of Nike Corporation. My name is…”

Jou got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he turned the small set off. He finally realized what had happened. When Kaiba had opened up to him, Jou never did give him an answer. Undoubtedly, this had left the brunet feeling rejected, and with a severely bruised ego. ‘Fuck, am I ever a dumb ass,’ he thought glumly as he flopped his head onto his pillow.


	5. Chapter Five

By 9:00 on Sunday morning, Jou was running down the street as fast as his legs would carry him. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was up, dressed and out of the house before noon. He had to talk to Kaiba, and one way or another, make the brunet hear him out. Completely focused on his task, he darted across a busy boulevard, narrowly escaping becoming a part of the front grille of a large SUV. Stopping momentarily on the opposite sidewalk, he made an obscene gesture and shouted angrily, “Hey, pedestrians have the right of way, you asshole!” Ignoring the returned finger from the driver, he remembered his quest and took off running once more. It was not until he arrived at a set of imposing wrought-iron gates that he permitted himself to stop and catch his breath. As he stood there partially doubled over drinking in great gulps of air, he pressed the intercom button and waited nervously for a reply.

“Jou?” a small voice echoed over the speaker. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“Mokuba,” the blond panted breathlessly. “I need…to talk to your…brother. It’s really important.”

There was a long pause before the young boy’s voice returned. “I’m opening the gate; come up to the front door, ok?”

Jou stepped back as the heavy doors slid silently open, granting him access to the grounds. He ran up the flagstone driveway, and by the time he stood on the marble porch, Mokuba had opened the door to greet him. “Hey kid,” Jou called out, ruffling the young Kaiba’s hair playfully.

Mokuba grumbled as he fussed to get his long raven tresses back in place, then smiled wanly at the blond. “Jou, what’s going on? I’ve never seen Seto this angry before.”

Feeling the knot in his stomach tighten, the blond nervously rubbed the back of his head and said, “Yeah, that’s what I need to talk to him about. Can you go get him for me?”

“Seto’s not here, Jou. He went into the office early this morning. He didn’t even wait for his driver to get up; he just drove himself.”

Jou’s face fell. KaibaCorp headquarters was on the other side of town. It would take him at least an hour to reach it on foot. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Thanks, kid. I’ll talk to you later.” He took off at a run back down the driveway.

“Jou, wait! I’m coming with you!” Mokuba called after him. 

“Mokuba, this is complicated,” he called back over his shoulder, not wanting to drag the younger Kaiba into his mess.

“You’ll never get past security alone!”

The blond stopped dead in his tracks. The smaller boy was right. If he had any hope of reaching the brunet, then he was going to need Mokuba’s help. With a sigh, he turned around and trudged back up to the house. Dejectedly, he flopped down on the porch steps to wait while Mokuba got ready and called for the limo. The raven-haired boy joined him a couple of minutes later, sitting beside the blond quietly. Jou broke the silence first by asking, “Don’t you usually go into the office with your brother?”

Mokuba giggled softly and said, “No. Seto’s learned that it’s best to leave me at home on the weekends when he goes in to work. It’s so _boring_ sitting there watching him work, and he usually gets less done than he wants to because he winds up trying to keep me entertained.” He stood up when he saw the limo pull up and clambered into the back seat, Jou following behind him.

As he sank into the plush leather, Jou was grateful for the ride, but at the same time, he started to feel more and more uneasy the closer they got to KaibaCorp headquarters. At least if he’d been walking, he’d have had more time to think about what he was going to say to the brunet. The blond was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a gentle tugging at his sleeve. He turned to see Mokuba staring up at him, an imploring look in his big, slate-blue eyes.

“Jou, I’m worried about Seto. Can you please tell me why he’s so upset?”

Jou sighed in defeat; he knew that look, he’d seen it so many times before. And, like with Shizuka and with Yugi, he was completely powerless to resist it. Deciding to skip the part about the kiss, Jou explained, “When we were trapped together, we managed to get past the fighting and stuff, and then, I said…or rather, I didn’t say something, and I, uh…” The blond squeezed his eyes shut in frustration as he tried to figure out how to put what he was feeling into words. “Let’s just say I did something really stupid and now I have to try to apologize for it.”

Mokuba blinked at Jou in confusion as he listened to the blond try to stammer out an explanation for him. Unfortunately, before he could ask further questions for clarification, the limo pulled up in front of the large skyscraper. Sighing, he climbed out of the car and led the way through the front doors. He nodded at the ruddy-faced security guard who sat behind the desk. The guard waved cheerfully at Mokbua, all the while casting a questioning eye at Jounouchi. In silence, the pair entered the elevator. As the stainless steel doors slid closed, Mokuba turned to the blond and asked, “Do you want me to come with you?”

Jou smiled weakly down at the young boy and said, “Thanks, but I’ve talked to your brother before. I’ll be fine.”

The doors slid open, and the two stepped out into the carpeted hallway. “Ok,” Mokuba whispered. “Seto’s office is at the end of this hallway. I’ll wait here for you. Good luck!”

“Thanks,” Jou responded, a wry smile on his lips. “I think I’m going to need it.” The blond slowly made his way down the hall, feeling extremely nervous. The floor was eerily quiet, his anxious breathing and the soft shuffling of his shoes on the carpet the only sounds he heard. As he neared Kaiba’s office, he could hear the furious clicking of computer keys followed by the occasional frustrated grunt echoing out from behind the partially closed door. ‘Shit,’ Jou thought. ‘If he’s as mad as Mokuba says, I’m sure he’s going to be completely _thrilled_ to see me here, interrupting his work.’ Suddenly questioning his resolve, he turned back towards the elevators, debating the apparent validity of his plan. He saw Mokuba’s face peek out from one of the nearby cubicles and break out into a grin, and the young Kaiba gave him the ‘thumbs up’ to proceed. Feeling slightly more courageous, he took a deep breath, turned towards the door and knocked softly on the heavy oak door. The typing stopped. After a few moments had passed with no acknowledgement, Jou knocked again, a little harder this time.

“What?” came the impatient reply from within.

Accepting that as permission to enter, Jou pushed open the door and poked his head inside.

Kaiba’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw Jou’s face appear in his doorway, and he blinked to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. Squaring his jaw, he stood up and crossed the room, opening the door fully. “How did you get in here?” he asked coldly, his voice dripping with contempt.

Jou shrugged, “Door was open.”

The brunet regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, then snorted, “My security guard would never have let you up to see me without first alerting me. Where’s Mokuba?”

Ignoring the question, Jou said softly, “We need to talk.”

“Talk?” the brunet sneered. “We have nothing to talk about.” He glared at the blond, finally noticing the purple bruising around his left eye. His expression softened slightly as he asked, “What happened to your face?” He raised his hand, tentatively reaching out to touch the injured flesh. He lightly stroked Jou’s cheek, relishing the smoothness of the skin. When Jou leaned into Kaiba’s hand, the brunet sharply dropped his arm back to his side defiantly. 

“Why? Do you care?” Jou asked quietly.

Kaiba turned his back to Jou, ignoring the desire he had to fold the blond into his arms in a crushing embrace. He squeezed his eyes closed tightly as he replied coldly, “Not really.” He walked back to his desk and sat down, resuming his typing.

“Damn it, Kaiba!” Jou growled hotly. “You can’t just ignore me forever!”

“No?” Kaiba answered, narrowing his eyes. “Watch me.” He hit a button on his phone and said, “Security breach, my office.” He glared at the blond for a moment longer before returning to his work.

“All I want to do is apologize. Shit Kaiba, people make mistakes. I understand now what you were trying to say, and I’m sorry for being a dumb ass. I suppose it’s a genetic failing or something.” He shrugged. “I want you to forgive me because…” Jou sighed, “…Because I know what it took for you to kiss me.”

The brunet felt the aching loneliness in his heart as he recalled the intoxicating pleasure of touching the blond and the resulting pain. He could never – no, would never allow himself to be that weak again. “I’m sorry, were you saying something?” he asked as he returned to his computer, a defiant smirk tugging at his lips.

Angrily, Jou stormed over to the brunet’s desk, and in a fit of rage swept everything off the desktop – the telephone, reports, papers, and even Kaiba’s laptop. Glowering, he snarled, “To hell with you, Kaiba! Fuck your reports and fuck your company. For once, you’re going to hear me out.”

The brunet shook with silent fury as he watched several rogue pieces of paper flutter soundlessly to the floor in the aftermath of Jou’s outburst. Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, his glance flicked over to the door where the ruddy-faced security guard from the lobby stood, and behind him, a look of comprehension and shock on his face cowered Mokuba. “I think not.” Seething, Kaiba looked at the guard and growled, “Get this…this…stray _dog_ out of here, and under no circumstances are you to let him back in here today, or ever! If I have the misfortune of seeing him again, I will make it my personal mission to ruin you in every way possible. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Sir,” the security guard responded, grabbing Jou by the back of his collar and dragging him from Kaiba’s office. As soon as they were gone, Kaiba glared at his younger brother and said, “And as for you, Mokuba, you are to go home immediately. I will deal with you later.”

The young Kaiba stared back with a glare to rival his brother’s. “No.”

“What did you just say?” the older asked incredulously, a small frown creasing his forehead.

“I said no. Not until you hear me out.”

“Not this hackneyed speech again…” Kaiba growled irritably.

“Seto, for the last day, you’ve been in a really bad mood, and it’s driving everyone crazy. You fired the maid for not using fabric softener, and you were the one who had told her you _hated_ fabric softener. Our driver’s afraid he’s going to be fired because he wasn’t up at 4:30 in the morning when you wanted to go to work. Most of all, I get scared when you’re like this, Seto. It reminds me of the days of Gozaburo, and when he’d go on a tirade for nothing at all.”

“I’m sorry, Mokuba,” Kaiba replied, softening his tone considerably. “I didn’t realize I was affecting you like that. But that still doesn’t excuse the fact…”

“You didn’t even give Jou a chance to try to set things right,” Mokuba admonished, interrupting him. He saw his older brother open his mouth as if to protest, but the young one held up a hand to silence him. “I’m not a baby, Seto…I know you like Jou and I can see what’s going on. He wanted to apologize to you because he feels really bad for the misunderstanding, whatever that was.” 

“Mokuba, you might think that you understand what’s going on but it’s really complicated.”

“That’s bullshit!” Mokuba shouted indignantly, blushing in embarrassment when he saw the disapproving stare he received from his brother. He glanced down at the floor and whispered, “I know you don’t have allergies, Seto.” He peered up guiltily at his older brother and asked meekly, “Are you still going to punish me?”

A small smirk tugged at the brunet’s lips, and he said, “We’ll discuss that when I get home.”

“Are you going to talk to Jou?”

“That, little brother, remains to be seen.”

* * *

“Ow, shit!” Jou grumbled as the security guard tossed him roughly into the open elevator. Rubbing his neck, he glared at the older man. “Ever heard of ‘excessive force’?”

The security guard looked him up and down and chuckled darkly. “Yeah, good luck proving it. Who do you think a judge is gonna believe? A punk like you, who obviously can’t keep his nose clean, or someone like me with a spotless record? Heh…I knew you were trouble as soon as you walked through the door.” The elevator door opened revealing the underground parking garage. The guard once again grabbed Jou by his collar, choking him in the process.

“Hey, this isn’t the lobby!” Jou sputtered, looking around worriedly.

“Very good,” the guard replied, shoving the blond violently to the concrete.

Jou coughed forcibly, finally able to breathe. “What’s the deal?” Jou gasped, becoming more and more apprehensive by the minute.

“You heard Mr. Kaiba,” the guard replied, pulling his steel baton off his belt. “He said he didn’t want to see you around here ever again. I’m just making sure that doesn’t happen.” With a flick of his wrist, the baton extended to its full length, and the guard chuckled evilly. He neared the blond, a malicious glint in his eyes.

“Hey, hold on a sec!” Jou shouted, backing up a few paces and raising his arms in defense. “He said not to ‘let’ me in! He didn’t say anything about this!”

The guard laughed and took a couple of more steps towards the blond. “Oh, what did you think he meant? That I should politely escort you out and ask you not to return? It don’t work that way, kid.” Before Jou could answer, he swung the baton around and down on Jou’s shin, effectively bringing the blond to his knees. A kick was delivered to Jou’s side, and another baton blow was aimed for Jou’s ribs, but he held up his arm and the strike landed on his upper arm instead.

Although Jou was in considerable pain, he managed to lunge forward and by some miracle, grab the security guard’s pepper spray from his belt. This earned him a knee to the chest. Gasping for breath, Jou readied himself, and when the guard came back for another attack, the blow deflected off Jou’s shoulder and he countered with a shot of pepper spray to the face. The guard yelped in pain as his eyes started to water uncontrollably. Taking the opportunity presented to him, Jou staggered to his feet and as quickly as possible limped towards the street. He winced at the pain, but knew from past experience that nothing was broken. He was looking at some serious bruising, though.

Blinking in the mid-day sun, he glanced back towards the KaibaCorp building. He had half a mind to go upstairs and give Kaiba a piece of his mind. Part of him wanted to beat the shit out of the brunet for arranging a beating for him, but the saner, more rational part reminded him that while he and Kaiba had never really agreed, the brunet had always dealt with him on his own. Still, what if Kaiba really had wanted to permanently get rid of him? As he limped down the sidewalk towards his apartment, he shuddered at the thought.


	6. Chapter Six

By the time Jou reached his apartment, he felt ok physically, but he was mentally exhausted. The entire walk home, he had thought about his conversation with Kaiba. He knew that the brunet was still severely pissed off at him, probably even more so now that he’d messed up a half dozen reports and trashed an expensive laptop. Perhaps that had been a little too over the top? Jou smirked as he remembered the shocked look on Kaiba’s face. If nothing else, he had definitely got the brunet’s attention, for better or for worse.

But, there was one small, niggling detail that kept creeping back into his brain. Kaiba had approached him, had _touched_ him, and had even seemed concerned about him. Somewhere deep down, Kaiba still felt _something_ for the blond, even if it was buried under a mountain of hurt feelings, inflated egos and adamant denial. Jou couldn’t explain it, but he knew this intuitively; and it troubled him to no end as to why Kaiba would arrange to have him…taken care of. He shuddered involuntarily. As much as he wanted to believe that Kaiba had nothing to do with his recent injuries, he knew the brunet had a bit of a reputation for getting things done by whatever means necessary. And, until he could hear it for himself straight from the brunet, there would always be that tiny bit of doubt in the back of his mind. He quickly unlocked the door to his apartment and he scrambled up the stairs to his bedroom. 

With a pained grunt, he flopped down on his bed, lying on his back and staring mutedly at the ceiling. He noticed that there was a large crack in the plaster that kind of looked like a crooked smile and a large water stain that looked like a deformed monkey. There were a few smaller ones that looked kind of like a flock of Kuriboh, and the more he looked, the more he saw. He thought back to the mess he had made in Kaiba’s office, and felt a small twinge of guilt. Granted, Kaiba was being a giant ass, but for those poor people who had prepared those reports, he was certain they were going to experience the brunet’s wrath come Monday. He hoped that Kaiba wouldn’t be a complete prick and fire them. 

The telephone beside his bed rang sharply, startling him from his daydreams with a jump and a subsequent low moan of pain. Groaning, he reached across his bed, took a look at the caller display, and grabbed the receiver. “Hey Yug.”

“Hi Jou. I hope you’re feeling better. Are you busy?” a soft voice asked tentatively from the other end of the line.

The blond hesitated, knowing his shorter friend was going to invite him over to do something. His body ached like hell, but he was going stir-crazy staring at the Rorschach test he had parading around on his ceiling. “Not really. What’s up?”

Yugi’s voice perked up at the news. “That’s great! Grandpa has an out of town conference tomorrow, but he wants to leave tonight to meet up with some old friends. He said I could invite someone over to stay with me. Do you think you can?”

The blond smiled. He liked hanging out with Yugi, and his grandfather always made sure they were well fed. Considering how he’d most likely wind up eating instant noodles out of the container tonight, it was an attractive prospect. “Sure, I’ll leave a note for my dad. I don’t think he’ll care. Give me about an hour to get my stuff together and get cleaned up, then I’ll be over.”

“Great! I’ll see you when you get here! Bye!”

“Later, Yug.” Jou laughed as he hung up the phone. Yugi’s optimism was strangely infectious. Forgetting about his injuries for the time being, he quickly shoved his textbooks and his uniform into a small duffel bag, along with some toiletries that he’d need for the next morning. He grabbed a quick shower, carefully towelling off the large welts he had erupting across his body. He was grateful that all his injuries could be easily hidden underneath his clothing. Stuff like that tended to attract unwanted attention and raise unwanted questions. 

He threw on some jeans and a t-shirt, and quickly swallowed a handful of acetaminophen tablets. As an afterthought, he tossed the bottle in his bag and zipped it closed. After scribbling a messy note to his father telling him where he was and when he’d be home, Jou slipped on his shoes and coat and was out the door. A nice, quiet evening with Yugi was just what he needed.

Too bad that wasn’t what he got. When he arrived at the game shop, Honda, Otogi, Anzu and Ryou were also there. He blinked at Yugi in confusion. The short teen hadn’t said anything about the gang coming over.

Yugi beamed up at his friend and said, “Since you weren’t feeling well yesterday, we put off the celebration until today!”

“Yeah, pal! It’s just not the same without you!” Honda chirped, heartily slapping Jou across his injured shoulder. The blond felt a white hot flash of pain, and it took everything in him not to show any outward signs of discomfort.

“Great!” Jou squeaked, smiling weakly through the throbbing haze. His face paled slightly as he felt Anzu fling her arms around him in a crushing embrace, agonizingly reminding Jou of his bruised ribs. He took in a couple of deep breaths as he felt a light sweat break out on his forehead. With a strained expression on his face, he forcibly disentangled himself from Anzu and sat down on the sofa. “Nice to see you too, Anzu,” he replied. 

The remainder of the evening passed relatively incident free for Jou. Once the group had started to eat pizza and had settled down to watch movies, everyone was fairly still and quiet. That is, until Ryou stumbled on an upturned corner of the rug and accidentally dumped his glass of ice water in Otogi’s lap. The resulting cold shock to the groin set off a chain reaction of events beginning with Otogi jumping up with a yelp, tripping over Honda’s outstretched legs, and ending with Jou receiving a kick to the shin as a result of the dice master’s flailing limbs. His eyes welling up with tears, Jou got to his feet and hissed through clenched teeth, “I’ll be right back. Gotta go to the can.” Hobbling quickly to the bathroom, he downed another handful of acetaminophen tablets and took a moment to splash some cool water on his face. He waited for the throbbing in his leg to recede, then stationed himself in the large armchair, well away from any further potential sources of injury.

* * *

The next morning, Jou awoke before Yugi. Taking care not to wake the smaller teen, he crept to the bathroom to prepare for the day. Closing the door behind him, he pulled off his t-shirt and gaped at his reflection. His entire left side was one big bruise, wrapping around him like some hideous vest. The welt on his arm was no better, turning the flesh a grotesque reddish-purple hue. Add to that his black eye, and the blond looked like he had had one hell of a weekend. 

The bathroom door was thrown open, admitting Yugi, who was still rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“Yug!” Jou yelled, frantically grabbing for a towel to cover up his torso.

Startled, Yugi let out a small, surprised yelp, then his amethyst eyes widened in shock. The blond had been quick, but not quick enough. “Jou! What happened to you?”

“What, this?” Jou shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.”

“Jou, that looks terrible!” Yugi admonished, trying to peek under the towel for a better look. “You need to see a doctor.”

Flushing with embarrassment at the unwanted attention, Jou tried to push his friend away from him while at the same time keeping his towel in position, as though he were some sort of prude. “Nah, it’s fine. Looks worse than it really is, you know?” He plastered a lopsided grin on his face and prayed he sounded sincere. He really hated lying to his best friend, but he knew that the short teen would worry incessantly about him otherwise.

Yugi regarded him seriously for a moment before asking, “Yami wants to know if Kaiba did this to you.”

The blond’s eyes widened ever so slightly at the mention of the brunet. “Kaiba? No, Kaiba didn’t do this.”

“That’s good,” Yugi said fiercely, clenching his fists. “If he did, the Shadow Realm would be the least of his worries. He’d have me to deal with.”

“Easy there, champ,” Jou smirked. Yugi looked so cute when he was acting like the tough guy. “Let’s not wreak revenge on Kaiba just yet, ok?” Yugi’s face relaxed a bit and he nodded. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to finish getting ready for school!” he chided as he shooed his friend out the door, remembering this time to lock it behind him.

The walk to school was somewhat awkward. Every five minutes or so, Yugi would ask Jou if he was sure he was ok, and every time, Jou would answer with an exasperated nod of his head signified yes, he was doing just fine. When they were about a block from the school, Jou turned to his friend and said, “Look Yug, I know you’re trying to look out for me, but please, let it go. It’s bad enough that you know about this, but the last thing I need is the whole school knowing. Just drop it, ok? For me?”

“Drop what?” Honda asked, falling into step with the pair, joined soon after by Anzu.

“Nothing,” Jou growled, bowing his head to hide the pink tinge that was creeping up his cheeks.

“Aw, come on Jou! You can tell us!” Honda quipped, slapping Jou on his injured arm. The blond winced in pain and Yugi’s eyes widened in horror as his hand flew up to cover his mouth. Honda, seeing Yugi’s reaction, quirked his head to the side in confusion. “What’s that all about?”

“Take it easy, Honda!” Yugi blurted out. “Jou’s –“

Jou clamped a hand over Yugi’s mouth, and grinned nervously. “Ah, I just slept a little funny and my arm’s a little stiff. You know how it goes.”

Honda smirked. “Yeah, I bet I know why your arm’s a little stiff,” he snickered, winking lewdly at the blond and making a shuffling gesture with his fist.

“Fuck you, man!” Jou retorted, ignoring the curious look he was receiving from Anzu. “Honda’ll explain it to you, Anzu,” Jou called over his shoulder as he dragged Yugi up the front steps and into the school. “We’ll see you inside; gotta talk to Yug for a sec.”

Once inside, Jou ducked into a deserted side corridor and looked sternly at his small friend. “Yug, please don’t make me have to tell you again. I’m already pissed off enough that you know.” He saw the worried look on Yugi’s face, and he said gently, “I’m not mad at you – yet; I’m mad at the situation. I know you want to help, but I’m not a baby and I don’t like people fussing over me, you know? It’s no big deal – really. I just got into a thing with some whack-job security guard who I think has some serious issues.” He patted his friend on the back reassuringly. “We came to an agreement – I’ll avoid him for the rest of my life, and he won’t beat the crap out of me anymore. It’s win-win,” he joked, a small smirk on his face. “End of discussion.” As he steered his friend back to their waiting friends, neither noticed the lone figure step out from the shadows behind a row of lockers.

Kaiba had overheard everything. It wasn’t that he was planning on eavesdropping. He had seen Yugi and Jou hurriedly enter the corridor, and not wanting another confrontation with the blond, he had quietly disappeared into the shadows, still fuming about the previous morning. Now, as he watched the retreating backs of the two friends, a disconcerted frown crossed his face. He pulled his cell phone from his briefcase and quickly dialled a number. “It’s me,” he said crisply when the call was answered. “I have a job for you.”

* * *

“What do you think you’re doing?” a cold voice asked from behind Jounouchi. “I would have thought you had moved beyond childish pranks and petty vandalism by now.”

Jou’s face paled as he had been caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar; or in this case, Kaiba’s mailbox. He swore to himself when he heard a car door open and close, and felt his heart race when he heard footsteps approaching him. ‘Damn it! I thought he’d be at work until later. Fuck, fuck, fuck…’ He felt the tiny hairs on the back of his neck bristle, and he could sense that Kaiba was standing directly behind him, not more than six inches away.

“Well, Mutt? Care to explain yourself?” Kaiba whispered in his ear, sending a shiver down his spine and causing his skin to erupt into goose bumps. 

The blond whirled around quickly, coming face-to-face with the brunet, who had a strange smirk on his face. “I’m not doing anything illegal, Moneybags. There’s no law against putting an envelope in someone’s mailbox,” he protested. At this distance, he could smell Kaiba’s cologne, and it was making him tingle inside. Feeling a slight blush tinting his cheeks, he ignored the protest from his body and continued, “Well, see you around.” He made a move to brush past the brunet but was blocked.

Seeing Jou’s shocked expression and watching the pink climb even further up the blond’s cheeks, Kaiba’s smirk widened ever so slightly. “I don’t think so.”

“Why? What are you going to do?” Jou asked, a note of genuine panic in his voice as he tried to sidle away.

‘He sounds as though he’s afraid of me!’ Kaiba thought dejectedly as he reached out and grabbed the blond’s wrist, feeling Jou’s body stiffen slightly at the touch. “Will you relax? I’m not up to anything sinister, and even if I was, do you really think I’d be stupid enough to do anything to you in broad daylight and right alongside a busy street?”

Jou looked around at the passing traffic and had to agree that Kaiba did have a point. “Then what do you want?”

He pushed all thoughts of ravishing the blond out of his mind. He had to stay strong. “I want to know why you’re too big of a coward to give this to me in person,” he taunted, deliberately bating the blond.

“Coward?!” Jou yelled indignantly. “I’m not afraid of you, Kaiba!”

‘Good, that’s what I wanted to hear,’ the brunet thought, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. “No? Then why the clandestine operation?” 

“Hey,” Jou snapped defensively. “It’s not like I sent it anonymous and delivered it in the middle of the night. No one was home here, and I couldn’t take it to your office because of you – your…” He looked down at the ground and said softly, “…Because of yesterday’s…unpleasantness.” He looked up at the brunet with pleading eyes, as if silently begging Kaiba to answer the one question that was plaguing his mind.

Kaiba’s heart ached knowing that he couldn’t give the blond an answer; at least, not yet. Kaiba had seen the surveillance tapes, had seen what had happened to Jou. And, while he was not responsible for ordering the attack, he felt he was still personally accountable. Guilty by association, he supposed. Only when he had personally dealt with the situation and could set things right would he explain everything to Jou. Kaiba didn’t do things halfway. “Go!” he growled. “Just…go.” Wordlessly, he let the blond’s wrist slip from his grasp, turning away from the soulful amber gaze that was wrenching his heart in two. ‘If only you weren’t so damned stubborn in the first place,’ he admonished himself.

Only after he heard the retreating footsteps of the blond did he turn back to the mailbox to retrieve the envelope. It was a standard manila envelope with ‘SK’ hastily scribbled on the front. Returning to his car, he tore open the envelope and pulled out a hefty wad of bills and a note written in the blond’s typically illegible scrawl: 

_Kaiba,_

_I was always told ‘you break it, you buy it’. Consider me the proud owner of one slightly busted laptop._

_-Jounouchi’_

He reread the note, then threw his car in reverse and backed out onto the street, ignoring the blaring horns and swerving cars. He took off with a screeching of tires, laying down about a 50-metre streak of rubber in the process.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Quote is from Carl Jung.

Kaiba pulled up alongside a small apartment complex and got out of his car. Waiting outside the unassuming brick building, he surveyed the street in both directions impatiently. He watched as an unassuming black sedan pulled over on the opposite side of the street and a very large man climbed out. He was impeccably dressed in a black double-breasted wool suit, and he wore a long trench coat that barely skimmed over the ground. He saw the brunet standing on the opposite curb, and with an elegance that belied his size he crossed the street. Kaiba gave a curt nod to the man in greeting. “I appreciate you coming on such short notice, Kiro.”

The raven-haired man smirked, taking off his dark glasses and placing them in his breast pocket. Regarding the brunet with piercing violet eyes, he nodded in acknowledgement. “You know I am always on call for you, Mr. Kaiba,” he responded, his voice a rumbling bass.

“Indeed,” Kaiba smirked, turning towards the building behind him. Wordlessly, the pair climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, pausing outside a nondescript metal door labelled ‘4E’. He turned to Kiro, who grabbed the knocker and rapped sharply.

From behind the door, the television volume dimmed, and a moment later, a very surprised security guard clad in a dingy t-shirt and boxer shorts answered the door. “M-mister Kaiba?”

The brunet fought back a wave of revulsion at seeing this man in his current state of undress. Setting his face in an expressionless mask, he responded politely, “Good evening, Roman. I heard about that _unruly_ trespasser you had to deal with yesterday, and your subsequent injuries.” He gestured to the redhead’s eyes, which were still red, swollen and puffy. “Have I caught you at a bad time?” he asked.

“N-no…” Roman responded, his eyes flicking from Kaiba to the goliath standing behind him. Nervously, he stammered, “W-won’t you c-come in?”

The brunet stepped into the room, Kiro following closely behind him, ducking slightly to clear the top of the doorframe. Kaiba surveyed his surroundings. The apartment was small and cluttered with piles of clean and dirty laundry, magazines and dirty dishes. The brunet cleared his throat and eyed his host disdainfully.

Roman flushed in embarrassment, but seemed to be over his initial shock at having his boss at his front door. “Please, sit down,” he invited.

Kaiba glanced from the armchair covered with grease stains to the sofa laden with laundry. “I think I’ll stand.”

“Right,” the redhead nodded. “So, what can I do for you tonight, Sir?”

The hint of a smirk played on Kaiba’s lips. “I just wanted to hear from you directly about what happened yesterday. I take it as a personal insult that someone would dare attack one of my employees.”

Roman’s face paled, and he cleared his throat nervously. “Well, I was sitting in my booth, and I noticed a shadowy figure roaming around in the parking garage. I knew that only you and I were in the building, so I knew that the…uh, perpetrator was up to no good. Quietly, I crept down the stairs to the lower level and confronted the individual who was skulking around my vehicle. Obviously, he was intent on vandalizing it.”

“Obviously,” Kaiba responded, tenting his fingers in front of him. “Do continue.”

“Anyway, I approached the individual, who appeared to be in his late 20’s, and asked what business he had in here, and that he was to leave immediately. Well, an altercation ensued, and during the struggle, the suspect pulled out a vial of pepper spray and incapacitated me. I started gasping for air due to the severe respiratory irritation, and he must have thought I was going to die, because I heard him run out of the area. I stumbled to my feet and by the time I’d returned to the lobby, my relief for the afternoon shift had arrived. This morning, I filed a report detailing the incident.”

“That’s quite the story,” Kaiba stated, folding his arms across his chest. “Unfortunately, I have a slight problem with your recollection of the event.”

“Problem?” Roman asked nervously.

“Yes,” Kaiba replied, his eyes darkening. “For you see, _my_ security system tells a completely different story.”

“ _Your_ system?” he squeaked.

The brunet smirked cruelly. ‘That’s right,’ he thought. ‘Time to squeak like the pathetic rat you are.’ “Yes. You see Roman; let’s just say that I’m not a very trusting sort. I have backups for virtually every system in the building that only a handful of people know about.” The redhead’s knees started to shake and he sank slowly down onto his sofa. “It’s the strangest thing,” Kaiba continued, a feigned expression of confusion on his face. “While your incident occurred out of range of the security cameras, my tape shows something completely different. I’m at a loss to explain it…”

Staring disbelievingly at the ground, Roman mumbled something softly.

“Speak up,” Kaiba demanded coldly.

His voice barely more than a whisper, Roman muttered, “I was trying to show you that I had what it took to be one of your personal bodyguards.” He looked up at the brunet with pleading green eyes.

Kaiba looked in disbelief at the man on the sofa for a moment before bursting out in a cruel laugh. “You?! A vigilante security guard?” Kaiba’s eyes grew colder and he sneered, “You’re both a coward and a liar. You sicken me.” He turned his back to the redhead in disgust.

Roman made a sudden imploring move towards Kaiba, but before he had taken two steps, Kiro reacted. In a flash, he had forced the smaller man onto his knees on the carpet and at the same time drawn a hidden revolver from behind his coat and placed it to the redhead’s temple. Roman let out a surprised gasp and stared wide-eyed at the young CEO, tears of fright starting to trickle down his cheeks.

Kaiba turned back to face him. “You’re pathetic,” he said coldly. “You think you are some kind of an enforcer? You think random acts of brutality demonstrate you are worthy? You’re nothing!” Turning to Kiro, he spat, “If this rat moves again, shoot him.” There was a muffled sob from the security guard, and the brunet grimaced disdainfully when he noticed that Roman had wet his pants in fright. Crouching down in front of the security guard so he could look him in the eyes, he whispered menacingly, “I don’t know what you _think_ you know about me and how I conduct business, but let me assure you, you would be wise to forget about it and never speak of it again. Unless of course, you’d like Kiro to give you a personal demonstration.”

Kaiba stood up and paced back and forth in front of the two men for a moment. He turned to Roman and eyed him intently. “This is how it’s going to work. You have one hour to pack your things and leave town. My friend Kiro will accompany you to make sure you get to your destination _safely_. I don’t care where you go, but if I ever see you here again, you’ll have a lot bigger problems to deal with than a pair of wet underwear. In fact, for the rest of your pathetic existence, you would be wise to turn the other way if you see me coming. Don’t even think about crossing me, because you won’t win.”

“But, what about my stuff? What about my job?” Roman asked, his lower lip trembling slightly.

“I don’t give a damn about your stuff,” Kaiba hissed. “And as for a job, you’ll be lucky if you find work at all. It’s unfortunate that your records will show you are a pedophile with a history of drug abuse, prostitution and fraud. You’re down to 58 minutes.”

“You falsified my records! I can’t believe you did that!”

“You misrepresented my name and my intentions. Be grateful that’s all I did.” He turned on his heel and headed towards the door. Turning back to Kiro, he smirked, “If this worm tries to resist, kill him. If he tries to run, kill him. Report back to me when you return.”

* * *

Jou was stretched out on the worn sofa in his apartment, listening to the radio, which was blaring at full volume. He had recently returned from Kaiba’s place, physically exhausted from the walk and mentally drained from his meeting with the brunet. Kaiba was definitely a puzzle, and a very complex one at that. Forget Jekyll and Hyde...he had only one monster. ‘The bastard’s more trouble than he’s worth,’ Jou thought with a snort as he turned onto his side. He let out a loud, forlorn sigh. ‘So, why can’t I stop thinking about him?’

He was startled by a loud knocking on his front door. ‘It’s probably Mrs. Bitch-face from next door here to complain about the music,’ he figured, turning down the volume dial to a more respectable level. ‘That ought to satisfy her.’ A few moments later, the knocking resumed, a little more forceful this time. Jou let out a heavy sigh and heaved himself off the sofa. “Alright, I’m coming. Fuck, don’t get your underwear in a bunch!” he groused as he shuffled to the door. Irritably, he threw it open, prepared to give whoever was there a piece of his mind for disturbing him. Instead, his jaw dropped open in surprise when he saw Kaiba standing there. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I see basic etiquette wasn’t lost on you,” Kaiba commented dryly.

“Nice. Did you come here just to insult me, or was there something else?”

“Actually, I came here to give this to you.” He pulled a small fuchsia bag from his pocket and handed it to the blond.

“What is it?” Jou asked curiously, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“Just open it, Pup. It’s not going to bite you.”

Jou peered into the bag, pulling out the pink t-shirt he had purchased on Friday for Shizuka. He flicked his eyes over to the brunet. “Where did you get this?”

“It’s yours, isn’t it?”

The blond smirked. “Well, it’s _like_ the one I bought for Shizuka.” He saw the strange look Kaiba was giving him and he grinned. “You made one mistake though.” He leaned close to the brunet and whispered, “It’s the wrong size.” Jou smiled. It was rare that Kaiba erred, and even rarer that anyone would know about it.

“Damn it.”

“So, um…” Jou began. “…Was there anything else you wanted, or…did you want to come inside?..”

Kaiba nodded. “There were some things I wanted to talk to you about.” He stepped through the open doorway and followed Jou to the living room. He sat down on the armchair while Jou sat next to him on the sofa. Suddenly, the brunet’s eyes grew serious. Turning to look at Jou, he said softly, “First of all, I owe you an apology.”

“Apology? For what?”

“I know what happened to you after you left my office yesterday. I just want you to know that it was not by my request, and the individual has been dealt with.”

Hearing Kaiba’s words, the blond let out a silent sigh of relief, his mind finally put to rest. Kaiba might have been a lot of things, but Jou had never known him to lie to him. “Did you fire him?”

“Among other things,” Kaiba replied, his voice taking on a melancholy timbre. “I’m sorry that happened to you, and I know this is a small consolation.”

“Don’t worry about it. You might have a lot of power, Kaiba, but you can’t control people. Well, not all the time, anyway.”

“Hn,” Kaiba responded, a sudden softness in his eyes. “Can I ask you something?”

Jou looked at him blankly for a moment, then replied, “I’m not going to sue your company, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

The brunet snorted in amusement. “I was wondering why you never accused me of doing this to you?”

Jou smiled gently. “Kaiba, you might be an asshole, and you might not always give me a direct answer, but this didn’t seem like something you’d do to me.” He looked down at the floor and added softly, “But, that doesn’t mean the thought never crossed my mind, you know?”

“And now?” Kaiba asked, leaning forward on the edge of the cushion, inching closer to Jounouchi. ‘Tell me what I need to hear, Puppy…’

“Now I have no doubt in my mind that you weren’t to blame. So stop blaming yourself.” He looked up and saw the brunet drawing closer to him, and he felt his heart start to race. “Do you forgive me?” he asked, his voice low.

“For what?”

“For misunderstanding this,” Jou breathed, cautiously leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on Kaiba’s lips. He drew back and looked expectantly at the brunet, his face a mixture of nervousness and apprehension.

Kaiba sat back in his chair, his tongue peeking out to taste his upper lip. He closed his eyes, a thoughtful expression on his face. “’Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves’**,” he mused. He opened his eyes and saw the confused look Jou was giving him. “I was too proud to admit I was hurt, so I tried to convince myself that you meant nothing to me. I couldn’t do it; every time I saw you, my resolve crumbled,” he explained. “Yesterday when you came by, I had already forgiven you, I was just too proud to tell you.” Jou nodded in understanding, his expression more relaxed. “Pride is an interesting thing, don’t you think?” He reached into his jacket and pulled out Jou’s note. “Would you care to explain this to me?”

Jou shrugged, “I broke it, so I’m replacing it.”

“I never asked you to.”

“Yeah, well I have to take responsibility for my actions!” Jou snapped, the irritation evident in his voice.

“You’re so headstrong!” Kaiba answered coolly. “You’re impulsive; you jump into something with both feet, not considering your course of action, not considering the consequences! What did you have to do to come up with this kind of money?” he demanded, placing the stack of bills on the coffee table.

“I pawned some stuff.”

“Like what?”

“Just stuff. Don’t worry about it.” Jou grumbled. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like my laptop, please.”

“And who says my laptop is broken?” Kaiba asked, obviously annoyed.

“Are you serious?” Jou groaned. “You mean I –“

“See what I mean about you being impulsive?” Kaiba interrupted. “It will take more than you and your temper tantrums to break that computer.” He glared sternly at the blond, whose expression had turned to one of astonishment. The brunet’s eyes softened and he pulled the blond to his feet, taking Jou’s hand in his. “You, on the other hand, aren’t so…durable.” He smirked and asked, “Following your logic, does that mean I’m now the proud owner of one ‘slightly busted’ puppy?”

Jou let out a low growl. “Screw you, Kaiba.”


	8. Chapter Eight

“Following your logic, does that mean I’m now the proud owner of one ‘slightly busted’ puppy?” he smirked.

“Screw you, Kaiba,” Jou growled.

“Not yet, Puppy. That usually happens after dinner and drinks,” Kaiba replied, relishing in the deep blush that quickly spread across Jou’s cheeks, rendering the blond speechless. Kaiba grinned and bent lower so he could whisper in Jou’s ear, “What’s wrong, Puppy? Aren’t you interested?” He felt Jou’s involuntary shudder and smiled when he saw the blond’s neck erupt in goose bumps. He pulled Jou tightly against him and kissed him softly on the nose.

Finding his voice, Jou wrapped his arms around the brunet and smirked. “Interested in what? Dinner or screwing you?” The blond’s bold reply caught Kaiba completely off guard, flooding his mind with a series of naughty, yet deliciously tantalizing, images.

Holding back a wanton moan, Kaiba suddenly found his pants extremely constricting, and he stared lustily at the blond. “Mm, be careful what you wish for, Puppy,” he breathed huskily, grinding his hips gently against Jou’s thigh. The blond gasped, his breath catching in his throat when he felt Kaiba’s lips press against his neck. Gently, the brunet feathered the area with soft kisses, his tongue carefully peeking out to taste the saltiness of the tender flesh. Breathing in the blond’s scent, Kaiba felt a surge of excitement flood through his body, and his kisses soon became more aggressive. Hungrily he suckled the soft skin, finally nipping with enough force to break the skin and elicit a low moan from Jou. He lapped at the wound, then lifted his head drunkenly. Through half-lidded eyes, he licked his lips. “Mine,” he stated with a feral growl.

Jou moved his hand to cup Kaiba’s arousal, sending another wave of pleasure rippling through the brunet. His cobalt eyes darkened with lust, Kaiba leaned down to capture Jou’s lips with his own, his tongue eagerly plundering the blond’s mouth. Only when he felt the burning in his chest as his lungs decried their need for oxygen did he reluctantly end the kiss. The echoing chime of a clock sounded in the distance, reminding Kaiba of his last instructions to Kiro. He paused and he took several deep, calming breaths, his forehead resting tenderly against the blond’s. He saw the pink flush of excitement in Jou’s cheeks, and heard his breath coming in great, ragged gasps from behind red, swollen lips. “You are truly beautiful,” he remarked, brushing a stray lock of blond hair out of Jounouchi’s face to tuck it behind his ear. “And while I’d love to stay here and make you scream my name all night, I’m afraid I have some other business I need to attend to.”

Jou let out a dejected whimper, the pained expression on his face indicative of the uncomfortable situation he had in his pants. “Kaiba,” he whined. “You can’t just leave me like –“

“Shh,” Kaiba soothed, giving Jou an impish smirk as he placed a finger over the blond’s lips, a mischievous light twinkling in his sapphire eyes. “I’m sure I’m leaving you in good hands,” he quipped. Jounouchi’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Kaiba had to stifle a snicker at the blond’s reaction. He tenderly ran his fingers through Jou’s flaxen hair and said, “If I didn’t have to deal with this tonight, believe me, I would stay. You have no idea how hard this is for me, too.” A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips as he detached himself from the blond and headed towards the front door, wondering if Jou understood the double meaning of his words. 

As he watched Jou fidget uncomfortably, he realized it probably was a tad cruel to have gotten Jounouchi so worked up only to leave him unsatisfied; still, it wasn’t as though the blond was the only one who was suffering. He mentally swore to himself that he’d make it up to Jou, and as he formulated a plan, he took immense satisfaction in watching his puppy squirm. If Kaiba had his way, before tomorrow night was over, Jou would be doing much more than squirming. Giving a small nod goodbye and closing the door behind him, the brunet felt his smirk widen. He _always_ had his way.

* * *

The next afternoon, Jou sat in his last period class and sighed heavily. There were only 20 minutes left until the end of the day, and the blond had not seen Kaiba at all. He turned and glanced back at the vacant chair, frowning slightly. Granted, it wasn’t all that unusual for the brunet to skip classes when his work schedule demanded it; however, a small part of him couldn’t help feeling a bit insecure as he wondered if Kaiba was having second thoughts. Jou let out a soft snort of disgust, reminding himself that no one could kiss the way Kaiba had and not be serious about it. With a small smile, he returned his gaze to the front of the room, absently stroking the place on his neck where Kaiba had marked him. The gentle sting of pain sent a ripple of excitement through his body and a flood of pleasure to his groin. Suddenly, Jou found he wasn’t in quite as much of a hurry for the final bell to ring – at least not until things had settled down below his belt. He gave a wry smirk and made a mental note to himself that he’d have to repay the brunet for that one later. Because of Kaiba, he’d been forced to completely button up his uniform jacket rather than leave it opened as he was accustomed to, and that had been a source of much good-natured teasing from Anzu and Honda. On top of everything he’d been through lately, the last thing he needed was to be thought of as an ass-kisser.

Bored, he let out a loud yawn, earning him a disapproving glare from the instructor. Before he could be lectured once again about his lack of respect and general poor manners, he was saved by the bell. Breathing a sigh of relief, Jou began hastily cramming his textbooks and papers into his backpack, eager to get out of the building. Waving goodbye to Anzu and Yugi, he and Honda walked towards their lockers to pick up the rest of their schoolwork for the evening. Half-listening to Honda chatter excitedly about the new student in their class, Jou opened his locker and found a white rose and a note lying gently on top of his books. Furrowing his brow in puzzlement, Jou pulled the card from its envelope. He recognized the neat, perfect script in an instant. It was from Kaiba. Scanning the message, he read, _‘My house, 5pm. –SK’_

“’SK’?” he heard Honda ask. Turning, he saw the brunet standing behind him, reading over his shoulder. “SK…SK…The only one I can think of is Seto Kai… Holy shit! Is that from Kaiba?” Honda called in surprise. 

Jounouchi gave him a hard elbow to the stomach. “For fuck’s sake, will you keep your voice down?!” Jou scolded in a harsh whisper, quickly glancing around to make sure his friend hadn’t been overheard.

“What the hell was that for?” Honda demanded indignantly, gingerly rubbing his sore abdomen.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jou shot back. “It’s bad enough you reading over my shoulder, but do you have to announce everything to the whole world?”

The brunet opened his mouth to argue, but promptly shut it again. Instead, he took a deep breath and said, “Sorry, bud. I guess I was just caught a bit off guard.”

“A bit?” the blond quipped, raising an eyebrow at his friend. He saw the glare Honda was giving him, and he chuckled. “Look man, it’s cool that you know, but I need to ask a favour.”

Honda narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What kind of favour?”

“Look, I just need a ride. I want to drop all this crap off at home and change, and I don’t have time to do that, and get back across town before 5:00.” He saw the brunet mulling over his request, and he hastily added, “I’ll let you raid the fridge at my place while I change, and I’ll even give you gas money.”

Honda grinned, “Deal. Let’s get going then; I’m starving!”

* * *

Just before 5:00, Jou stood in front of Kaiba’s estate. He had been pacing back and forth in front of the gates for a good five minutes trying to calm his nerves, but to no avail. Just as he was about to reach out for the third time to try to push the intercom button, a stern voice came across the speaker. “What do you want?” it demanded.

“Uh…” Jou stammered. “I’m here to see Kaiba.”

“ _Mister_ Kaiba is a very busy individual. I highly doubt he has the time to see you.”

“Hey,” Jou replied, the irritation evident in his voice. “It’s not like I came up here for the good of my health, you know! Kaiba sent me this note and it said to meet him at –“

“Hold on a minute,” the voice interrupted. “Yes, you fit the description. Your name is Jounouchi?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Jou responded testily.

The gates opened, and Jou made his way up the driveway. ‘Thanks for the apology, you prick,’ Jou thought as he stood on the front porch and knocked. A few moments later, Mokuba answered the door.

“Jou!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“He’s here at my request, Mokuba,” Kaiba’s stern voice called from within the house.

The raven-haired boy’s face erupted into a wide grin. “Ah, so you’re the mystery guest Seto’s been going on about.” He grabbed the blond’s hand and pulled him into the house, shutting the door silently behind him. After taking Jou’s coat, Mokuba led the blond to where Seto stood waiting in the living room. Smirking impishly as he looked from his big brother to Jou and back again, he said innocently, “Well, I’d better go finish getting my things together for tonight. I’ll be back in ten minutes or so…”

Jou’s face flushed a deep red while Kaiba glared at his brother, a faint pink tinge on his cheeks. “Go!” he ordered. As soon as his younger sibling was gone, Kaiba cleared his throat and turned to look at Jou. “So…”

Jou nervously toed the carpet, not meeting Kaiba’s gaze. “Yeah, so, um…you didn’t really miss much in school today,” he began. 

Kaiba’s lips curved upwards in a small smirk. “There was one thing I missed.”

“Oh yeah?” Jou asked, raising an eyebrow. “What was that?”

Kaiba pulled the blond into his arms as he said, “You, of course. I’m glad to see you got my note.”

Jou nodded, “Yeah, but it didn’t say much.”

“It said enough.”

“How did you get into my locker anyway?” Kaiba’s smirk widened slightly. “Did you pick the lock?”

“Not my area of expertise.”

“Did you ask Yugi or Honda?”

“Not likely,” Kaiba replied with a snort of disgust.

“Are you going to tell me?” When Kaiba didn’t reply, Jou growled in annoyance. “Screw you!”

The brunet chuckled. “I told you once already, not until after dinner and drinks.” He bent down and kissed Jou softly on the lips. “However, you are so tempting that I just might have to eat my dessert first.” He kissed the blond again, gently nibbling on Jou’s earlobe. He heard Jou’s faint whimper of pleasure, and he slowly, purposefully worked his way lower down his neck, his hands sliding under the soft fabric of Jou’s shirt to stroke the hot, smooth flesh of his abdomen. “That is, of course, if you want me to,” Kaiba whispered, his breath tickling Jou’s neck and sending shivers of delight coursing through the blond’s body. He raised his head and stared deep into Jou’s eyes. He saw that the desire he felt for the blond was reflected tenfold in that soulful amber gaze, and already knowing the answer, he asked softly, “Well, Puppy? Do you want me to?”

Jou licked his lips, once more drawn into the twinkling sapphire in front of him. Seeing Kaiba standing before him with his face flushed and his hair slightly messed and out of place, Jou let out a soft moan. It was taking all his concentration not to attack the brunet and take him right there on the floor. “No,” he said simply.

Kaiba’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “No?” he repeated, disappointment evident in his voice as he took a half step backwards, releasing the blond from his grasp.

“No,” Jou echoed, moving forward to snake his arms around Kaiba. With a half-smirk he purred, “I _need_ you to.” He subtly rubbed his hips against Kaiba’s thigh, allowing the brunet to feel his arousal.

“Mm, I see,” Kaiba remarked with a small smile. He crushed the blond to him, moving his leg between Jou’s to gently caress the obvious bulge, eliciting a wanton whimper from his puppy.

A small cough from the doorway alerted the pair to the fact that ten minutes was, indeed, up. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything _important_ ,” Mokuba taunted before scampering off to the dining room. 

“Brat!” Kaiba muttered in mock-annoyance as he took Jou’s hand in his and led him to the table. He sat down across from the blond and poured a glass of wine for himself and Jou. Taking a sip, he glanced across the table, noticing the rakish grin on Jou’s lips. The brunet raised a questioning eyebrow, receiving only a sly wink from the blond.

Jou cast his eyes to the left, and smiled at the younger Kaiba. “So, what are you up to tonight, kiddo?” he asked.

“Oh! I’m going over to my friend’s house for the night. We have a presentation to work on for school, and I’m just going to stay over,” Mokuba replied, spooning a large scoop of vegetables onto his plate.

“Is that right?” Jou asked slyly, eyeing Kaiba amusedly.

As the raven-haired boy continued to chatter on about his evening, Jou nodded in response while at the same time inconspicuously placing his foot between Kaiba’s legs to brush against the brunet’s groin. Encouraged by the unmistakable feel of Kaiba’s erection, he continued his ministrations, slightly intensifying the pressure and eliciting a soft, sharp intake of breath from the brunet.

Kaiba glanced over at his younger sibling, who was still conversing with Jou, oblivious to what was happening beneath the table. He felt as though his cheeks were on fire as he tried to ignore the intense pleasure flooding his senses. He knew that this was not the type of thing he should be doing in the presence of Mokuba, but somehow, the fact that he was engaging in something so deliciously naughty in front of his little brother made the sensations that much more intense. He turned his attention back to Jou, who was nonchalantly picking at his food and acting as though he was totally engrossed in what Mokuba was saying. He saw the blond’s eyes flick momentarily over to his face, a mischievous glint in his amber eyes. Almost imperceptibly, a devilish smirk flashed across Jou’s lips, and Kaiba felt the speed and intensity of Jou’s foot motions increase.

He could feel himself nearing his climax, and the harder he tried to resist, the stronger his body ached for release. Knowing he needed to deal with his current situation before he came in his pants, he abruptly stood up, ignoring the curious look from Mokuba and the self-satisfied smirk of Jounouchi.

Eyes wide with concern, Mokuba looked at Kaiba and asked, “Big brother, what’s –“

“Pager,” Kaiba yelped shrilly, interrupting him and hurriedly left the room.

“Pager?” Mokuba blinked and looked over at Jou. “When did he get a pager?” he asked, confusion evident in his voice.

Biting his cheek to stifle a snicker, Jou simply shrugged and turned his attention to his plate. He knew _exactly_ why Kaiba had left. As he chewed on a green bean, his shoulders shook with silent laughter. Paybacks were a bitch.

A few minutes later, Kaiba returned to the table. His face was still a bit flushed, but he was definitely back in control. As he sat down, he eyed Jou wolfishly. Not that he was complaining, but the pup was going to pay for that. The brunet turned his attention back to his dinner, deliberately crossing his legs to assuage any further advances from the blond.

The rest of the meal passed without incident, and once he was finished eating, Mokuba begged his brother for permission to head off to his friend’s house. Nodding his assent, Kaiba walked Mokuba to the front door and hugged him goodbye. Once the boy was secured in the limo, Kaiba closed the front door and turned to face Jou, his eyes narrowed, a sinister smirk on his lips.

The blond’s eyes widened in shock as he asked uneasily, “Wh-what’s wrong?”

Slowly and deliberately, Kaiba advanced towards Jou, his smirk widening as the blond retreated nervously. “You are a very, very naughty puppy,” he said darkly as he drew nearer to Jou.

“I was just getting even with you for getting me all worked up last night!” Jou stammered nervously as he felt his back touch the wall. “Didn’t you like it?” he asked.

“That’s the problem,” Kaiba replied wickedly, his body mere inches from Jou’s. “I liked it too much.” 

Jou moved as if to run, but Kaiba was too quick for him and caught him easily. Being the taller and stronger of the two, he slammed the blond against the wall, pinning him with his body. Holding Jou’s wrists above his head, he proceeded to ravage his mouth with a hungry, bruising kiss, grinding his hips against Jou’s groin. 

A small cry escaped from the blond’s lips, and as he writhed underneath his captor, he felt a small jolt of electricity pulse through his body when their arousals brushed.

When the need for oxygen arose, Kaiba ended the kiss and pressed himself tightly against Jou, rendering him immobile. His eyes dark with lust and burning with passion, he stared ravenously at the blond and remarked, “It’s time you learned who your master is.”


	9. Chapter Nine

It wasn’t a threat; it was a simple statement of fact. Kaiba said he was about to teach Jou a lesson, and the blond would have been lying if he said he wasn’t both terrified and excited. Terrified, because he had never seen the always-composed Kaiba with such a feral glint in his eye, and excited because he now knew the intense passion the brunet was capable of showing. Unable to move and feeling nothing but the heat of Kaiba’s body pressed against him, Jou surrendered himself to the brunet, wondering what sort of ‘punishment’ Kaiba had in store for him.

Kaiba felt Jou relax beneath him, and he knew that Jou had yielded. With a lusty growl, he once again bent his head to attack the supple flesh of Jou’s neck with his lips and tongue. Releasing his hold on Jou’s wrists, he allowed his hands to work their way under Jou’s shirt, cool fingers tracing the outline of every muscle on the smooth skin of his chest and abdomen. Finding a pert nipple, Kaiba rubbed across it with his thumb, eliciting a small whimper from Jou. The blond tried to wrap his arms around Kaiba’s waist, but the brunet once again grabbed his wrists in his hands and pinned Jou’s arms against the wall. Again Jou struggled briefly, eventually relenting once more to Kaiba. This time, Kaiba brought the blond’s arms down to his side, and pulling away for a moment, he looked hungrily at the blond.

He took Jou’s hands in his and led him up the stairs and to his bedroom. Laying the blond down on the mattress, his head resting on the pillows, Kaiba slowly raised Jou’s hands above his head while at the same time straddling his hips. He smirked lasciviously at the blond and in a voice barely more than a guttural whisper asked, “Do you know what happens now, Puppy?” His eyes were glinting with unseen passion as he stared piercingly at the perfect form beneath him. Before the blond could answer, he took the top button of Jou’s shirt in his mouth and popped it off with his teeth, spitting it out on the floor. “I’ll tell you.”

Slowly slithering his body down Jou’s to arrive at the second button, he whispered, “First, I’m going to get you out of this _restrictive_ clothing.” He bit the button off, and it joined its partner on the floor.

He moved a little lower. “Then, I’m going to make you beg.” The third button was removed.

He moved even lower. “And after that, I’m going to make you scream my name.” The fourth button joined its brothers.

Reaching the bottom button, he looked up at the blond. “Do you think you can handle that, Puppy?” He ripped off the last button and tore Jou’s shirt off of him, revealing the finely sculpted torso. Resting his hands on Jou’s hips, he swirled his tongue around Jou’s navel, dipping his tongue into the tiny crevasse and giving the tender skin a small nip. Placing a series of small kisses on Jou’s flat stomach, Kaiba slid one of his hands down to caress Jou’s cock through his pants. The blond threw his head backwards and groaned wantonly. Feeling Jou’s hardness, Kaiba moved his hands to the waistband of Jou’s pants and deftly undid the button. Slowly, he slid the zipper down, freeing the blond’s length. Sliding to Jou’s side and resting on his knees, he ran his hand up and down the shaft, hearing the hiss of pleasure from Jou. Through heavy, half-lidded eyes, Kaiba licked his palm, giving the blond a sultry smile. His hand slick with saliva, he firmly gripped the base of Jou’s cock, slowly rubbing up the entire length.

As Kaiba expertly stroked him, Jou could feel the intensity building inside of him. He was about to climax when the brunet suddenly stopped, tightly gripping the base of Jou’s penis and preventing him from his release. The blond whimpered slightly as he gazed incredulously at the brunet. “Tease,” he growled.

Kaiba smiled wolfishly. “I told you I was going to make you beg,” he replied as he resumed his ministrations. Within moments, Jou was once again writhing in pleasure at the hands of the brunet. Hearing the soft mewls from the blond, Kaiba increased his pace, bringing his puppy once more to the brink. He felt the blond tense beneath him, and abruptly brought his hand to the base of Jou’s cock, squeezing and preventing his orgasm.

Denied his release, a fine bead of sweat broke out across the blond’s forehead. Biting back a moan, Jou looked over at Kaiba, his eyes pleading. “Kaiba, please,” he panted, his breath quick and ragged. 

Kaiba tenderly brushed the blond’s bangs out of his eyes, kissing him softly on the forehead. “Are you asking me for something, Jounouchi?” the brunet queried, a knowing smirk on his lips. 

“Please, let me finish,” he whimpered softly, his voice strained.

Kaiba lightly ran his hand across the weeping head of Jou’s penis, gathering the pearly drop of precum on his fingertip. He brought the glistening bead to his lips, sensually running the pad along his moth before leaning over and capturing Jou’s lips in a heated kiss. The taste of the blond mixed with his own essence was enough to draw a soft moan from the brunet’s lips, and he smiled softly as he drew back. “Then call me by my name.”

“K-Kaiba?” he stammered, trying to steal another kiss from the brunet.

“Uh-uh, Puppy; try again,” Kaiba smiled, pulling away slightly, observing the forlorn expression on the blond. 

“Please…Seto,” Jou moaned.

Kaiba felt his own arousal pulse with anticipation as he heard his name spoken by the blond with such need, and he nodded. “Of course, Puppy; I think you’ve suffered enough.”

Kaiba edged his body down towards Jou’s hips, skimming his torso along Jou’s bare flesh, his smouldering gaze continuously locked on the blond’s lust-filled eyes. With slow, languid movements, he bent his head towards Jou’s groin, licking up the entire length of the blond’s cock.

“Oh fuck!” Jou moaned, feeling the hot, moist tongue teasing his arousal. He tried to thrust upwards, but was restrained by Kaiba’s hands which were holding his hips down.

The brunet dipped his head lower, engulfing Jou’s entire length in his mouth. He sucked forcefully on the shaft, his teeth gently scraping the smooth skin as he pulled back, his tongue swirling around the head of his penis. Kaiba tongued the slit, then blew lightly across the opening, causing the blond to shiver involuntarily. Once again taking the blond fully into his mouth, he began to bob his head up and down, bringing his hand up to gently but firmly caress Jou’s balls. Kaiba felt the blond’s body tense, and when Jou came with a primal roar, he hungrily swallowed every spurt. He continued to milk Jou’s shaft until he felt the blond relax, at which point he slid his body up the mattress to kiss the blond.

“Did you enjoy yourself, Puppy?” Kaiba asked, nuzzling against Jou’s neck.

Sighing contentedly, Jou nodded breathlessly. 

The brunet smiled wickedly, “Then you know what happens next.” He lifted his head and placed a series of light kisses along Jou’s collarbone. Spying the hard little nipples, Kaiba drew the small pink bud into his mouth, biting it just hard enough to send a shockwave of pleasure coursing through the blond. He seductively worked his way down Jou’s body, tracing a fine line of saliva from the centre of his chest to his navel. Nuzzling his nose in the fine, silky hair, he grabbed the waistband of the blond’s boxer shorts in his teeth and tugged, while at the same time using his hands to relieve Jou of his pants. Kaiba’s breath caught in his throat as his eyes drank in the sight of the naked form before him. “Oh God,” he breathed. “You are so beautiful…” He sat up, quickly stripping off his own clothing and sliding up to lay beside the blond. Tracing his fingers across the delicate features of Jou’s face, he stared into the warm amber eyes and asked seriously, “I want you more than anything, but I don’t want to force you.”

Jou took a deep breath. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want you, too.” He reached his hand out and took Kaiba’s cock in his hand, squeezing it gently as he deliberately worked his fingers up and down its length. 

With a carnal growl, Kaiba ravaged the blond’s mouth in a ravenous kiss as he reached over to his nightstand to retrieve a small bottle of hand lotion. He squeezed a liberal amount onto his hand, positioning himself in front of Jou’s opening. Slicking his fingers, he raised Jou’s leg, kissing the inner thigh, the knee, the calf and the ankle before rotating it outwards to give him greater access. Carefully, he stroked the tight ring with his fingers, working the lotion into the delicate skin. He hesitated when he heard the sharp intake of breath from the blond, but receiving a lusty nod from Jou, he carefully penetrated his puckered barrier with his middle finger. Tentatively probing deep inside him, he found the small bundle of nerves and lightly stroked it, causing Jou to whimper in pleasure. While the blond was distracted by the brunet’s ministrations, Kaiba inserted two more fingers, the additional pressure making the sensations more intense.

Jou cried out in ecstasy as Kaiba repeatedly hit the blond’s prostate, thrusting his hips backwards to force the long fingers even deeper into him. Kaiba began thrusting harder into the blond, his other hand coming up to stroke the blond’s erection. As he watched Jou moan and writhe at his hands, he felt his own arousal throbbing with need, the head beginning to weep with desire. With a low, hungry growl, Kaiba withdrew his fingers from the blond and slicked his aching cock with a thick coating of lotion. Kneeling at Jou’s feet, he lifted the blond’s hips onto his lap, and with a wanton grunt, he thrust himself deep within Jou’s ass, burying himself to the hilt.

Jou let out a pained cry as he was forcibly penetrated, his eyes squeezed shut, his back arching up off the mattress. After a moment, he became accustomed to the increased pressure inside of him, and he relaxed back down onto the bed. 

Kaiba began to thrust slowly into the blond, pulling himself out nearly all the way with deliberate, controlled motions before slamming back in. Jou’s ass felt so hot and tight against the brunet’s cock, and as he drew closer to his release, his movements became quicker, needier and more aggressive. Dropping the blond’s hips onto the mattress and using his own legs for leverage, he pistoned harder into Jou as he felt his climax building, his body slick with sweat. Jou mewled and wriggled beneath him, every pleasured cry sending Kaiba even closer to orgasm. No longer able to hold back, Kaiba let out a feral roar, his sapphire eyes dark with passion as he came deep within the blond, his essence spilling into the blond’s passage.

When he was spent, he pulled out of the blond and sidled up beside him on the bed. He ran his fingers over his wet cock, slicking his fingers with a mixture of his seed and lotion. Reaching down, he began to feverishly stroke Jou’s hard shaft while at the same time plundering his mouth with hot, passionate kisses. 

Jou began to whimper softly at Kaiba’s touch. “Oh God, I’m going to come,” he rasped hoarsely, his head pressed firmly into the pillow, his back slightly arched off the bed.

“Then come for me,” Kaiba whispered. “But open your eyes and look at me. I want to see your beautiful eyes when you finally give in to the pleasure I’m giving you.”

Jou’s face was flushed, his lips moist and slightly parted as he panted in great, ragged breaths. Slowly, his eyes slid open and he turned to look at the brunet, his amber eyes staring at him with a sensual lustiness. “Just…don’t stop,” he panted, craning his neck up to taste Kaiba’s lips once more.

“I have no intention of it,” Kaiba breathed carnally, his hand easily sliding along Jou’s length, squeezing and manipulating the firm flesh. Hearing Jou’s breathing grow quicker and deeper, he gripped the blond’s cock tightly, stroking it furiously as he brought the blond to his climax.

“Oh fuck! Oh God, Seto!” Jou screamed as he reached his orgasm, his vision white, his body convulsing in shuddering spasms.

As hot semen splashed over the brunet’s hand, spilling onto the blond’s chest and stomach, Kaiba gazed deep into the passionate fire burning in Jou’s eyes as he muted the blond’s cries with a searing kiss. Only when Jou’s breathing had slowed and his body had quieted did Kaiba pull away. Pulling the blond into his arms, Kaiba nuzzled into Jou’s neck and whispered slyly in his ear, “I told you that I would make you scream my name. Thank you.”

Jou stifled a sleepy yawn. “For what?”

Kaiba placed a gentle kiss on Jou’s forehead. “For more than you could ever understand, Puppy. Don’t move; I’ll go get a towel.”

“Mm-hmm,” Jou replied sleepily, snuggling against the pillows.

The brunet slipped out of bed and padded quietly off to the bathroom. He cleaned himself off with a warm facecloth, then returned to the bedroom. He smiled softly to himself when he saw the blond cuddled up in the blankets fast asleep. Trying not to disturb the sleeping form, he carefully wiped the traces of their lovemaking off his body, then pulled the blankets up to keep Jou warm while he slept. “It’s funny,” Kaiba whispered to the sleeping form. “I would have never given the idea a second though before, but I think I’m falling for you. Who would have guessed?” 

Deciding to let Jou rest, Kaiba took a quick shower, then picked up the scattered clothes that were strewn around the room. When he picked up Jou’s jeans to lay them on the ottoman, a small piece of paper fluttered silently to the ground. Stooping to pick it up, he unfolded it, a small frown wrinkling his brow. It was a claim ticket for the items Jou had pawned. He quickly scanned the list of items, stopping at one line in particular. Casting a quick glance towards the bed where Jou still slumbered peacefully, he pulled on some clothes and slipped out the door, closing it silently behind him.

* * *

It was barely dawn when Jou opened his eyes sleepily, vaguely aware of a burning sensation in his ass. As the memories of the previous night came flooding back to him, he smiled to himself as he turned over to look for his new lover. Disappointed, he found the bed completely empty. ‘Maybe he’s in the shower,’ Jou thought, wincing as he stood up and padded to the bathroom. The room was silent and the lights were off. Frowning, he returned to the bedroom and felt the mattress. It was still warm where he had been sleeping, but everything else was cold, meaning Kaiba had been up for some time, if he had even gone to bed at all! He was about to go searching the house when he spied a large tray on the dresser. 

Wandering over, he saw a large bowl of strawberries, some juice, and a plate containing assorted muffins and Danishes. Absently nibbling on a strawberry, he saw a red rose and another card. Picking it up, he read the simple message:

_‘Airport, Gate 43, Limo will wait for you. – S’_

Finding this message even more mysterious than the last, Jou searched for his clothes and quickly showered and dressed, curious as to what Kaiba was planning.


	10. Chapter Ten

Stuffing a Danish in his mouth and grabbing a couple more pastries off the tray in the bedroom, Jou bounded down the stairs to the front entrance. Blinking in the bright morning sun, he approached the sleek, black car that was parked in the driveway. As he neared the vehicle, the driver’s side door opened and the chauffeur stepped out. He was a tall man with short, sleek black hair and dark sunglasses. The blond stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the handle of a pistol peeking out from beneath the man’s jacket as he leaned forward to open the door for him.

The chauffeur turned to look at him. “You’re Jounouchi, right?” he asked in a gravely voice. The blond nodded mutely. “Mr. Kaiba has instructed me that I’m to bring you to the airport. Please, get in.”

“No way; I know you’re packing,” Jou responded. He knew that Kaiba wouldn’t do anything to harm him, but he found the idea of an armed chauffeur somewhat suspicious.

The chauffeur’s mouth dropped open in surprise, then curved upwards into a small smile. “Very observant. I’m more than Mr. Kaiba’s chauffeur; I’m also one of his bodyguards. My name is Aku. Now please, we must get going.”

Jou took a step towards the car, then stopped again and turned to the driver. “Uh, do you think it’d be ok if I rode up front with you? I’m not used to this whole idea of being driven around, especially if Seto or Mokuba’s not with me.” He toed the ground nervously as he waited for the older man’s response.

Again, Aku looked surprised by the blond’s words, but after a moment, he nodded his assent. Jou grinned and raced around to the passenger side while Aku shut the back door and climbed into the driver’s seat.

Once they were on the road, Jou turned to Aku and asked, “So, if you’re one of Seto’s bodyguards, you must know why we’re going to the airport, right?”

Aku glanced sideways at the blond, a small smirk on his lips. “I only know what Mr. Kaiba tells me. That usually involves destinations, directions, and potential problems. Unfortunately, I’m not privy to the more _intimate_ details of his plans.”

“Oh,” Jou sighed. “That sort of sucks, doesn’t it?”

The raven haired man smiled. “In a way, I suppose so; but I’ve never really thought about it like that. We know enough to do our jobs, and that is sufficient for me.”

Jou nodded, “I guess.” For the rest of the trip, he and Aku chatted idly about a myriad of topics ranging from Duel Monsters to music, to what type of car was the best on the market today. By the time they arrived at the terminal, Jou had decided that Aku was a pretty cool guy, and he hoped that he would get another opportunity to chat more with the driver in the future.

He waved goodbye as Aku sped off down the street, and he entered the terminal. As he walked down towards his gate, he looked out onto the apron, watching airport workers tending to various corporate Lear jets and larger commercial planes. He wondered what sort of plane he and Seto would be taking as he arrived at Gate 43, and was extremely surprised to see a helicopter sitting on the tarmac instead. He looked around for the brunet, but found no sign of him anywhere. He walked over to the petite brunet woman sitting at the gate and said, “Yeah, hi. Seto Kaiba gave me a note telling him to meet him here, but I can’t seem to find him. Do you think you could page him for me?”

“Ah, Mr. Jounouchi. I was instructed to expect you. They are just finishing fuelling the helicopter, and then we’ll let you board. It shouldn’t be more than five minutes or so.”

Jou found it extremely odd that Kaiba was nowhere to be found, and even stranger that he had arranged for him to be taking a trip alone. “What the hell? Is Kaiba dumping me off on some abandoned island or something?” he demanded.

The woman smiled kindly at him and replied, “No sir. Mr. Kaiba took an early flight this morning, and instructed us to prepare for your arrival. You will be travelling to a small area about 100 miles down the coast. It will only take about 20 minutes for you to arrive.” Just then, a man wearing a blue jumpsuit and headphones walked over to the woman and whispered something in her ear. She nodded, then turned back to the blond. “The ground crew has finished. You may board now.”

The crewman led Jou down the ramp to the waiting helicopter. Looking around, the blond climbed on board and fastened himself into one of the seats. He heard the door close and lock, and a moment later, he heard the high-pitched whine of a turbine and the massive rotors started spinning. Slowly, the helicopter lifted off the ground, and within moments, it was speeding along the coast, bringing Jou to wherever Kaiba was waiting. Jou was fascinated by the tiny world rushing past him as he looked out the helicopter’s window, and before he knew it, the craft was making its descent. As the wheels touched down on the concrete pad, the pilot cut the engines, bringing the blades to a stop. Once the aircraft had been secured, the pilot’s voice came over the cabin’s intercom.

“We’ve arrived, sir. You may remove your seatbelt and deplane now.”

Jou hurriedly unbuckled his lap belt and climbed off the helicopter. He looked around and frowned. It looked like he was on an abandoned army base. Weeds and small grasses were sprouting up through small cracks in the concrete and many of the buildings, which looked like small office buildings, showed signs of their age with peeling paint, missing roofing tiles and broken windows. He looked behind him and saw the ten-foot tall fence with the razor wire on top of it, and in the distance loomed a large, foreboding warehouse. He turned to the pilot and asked, “Where the fuck are we?”

“This is KC-232, Military Vehicles Division,” the pilot replied crisply. 

Jou nodded, and wandered off to explore his surroundings, wondering why on earth the brunet would want to meet him at an abandoned factory. As he passed some of the derelict office buildings, he recognized the KC logo on the signs. ‘This was once a part of KaibaCorp!’ Jou thought, reading the various departments: Administration, Research and Development, Operations… There was still no sign of Kaiba, and the place was reminiscent of a ghost town. Just as he was about to return to the helicopter to ask where Seto was hiding, he spied a figure standing in the shadows of the warehouse. Instantly recognizing the stiff, commanding posture, he trotted off in the direction of the brunet. Stopping about ten feet away from Kaiba, he watched as the brunet stared motionless at the crumbling edifice before him, his hands down by his sides, his trench coat flaring out behind him. “Seto?” he called out, crossing the distance to stand beside the brunet. “What is this place?”

Kaiba didn’t look over at Jou, continuing to stare straight ahead of him. “This is the last remnant of my step-father’s legacy. Everything that ever belonged to that snake, I’ve had destroyed; everything, except for this particular site. I just couldn’t get rid of it; not that I didn’t want to. Every time I saw it, it reminded me of all the things he did to me, the way he controlled and manipulated me, and it pushed me to work even harder because I hated that son-of-a-bitch. Every time I thought about giving up, I’d see that bastard’s laughing face, and I’d press on. I guess you could say this testing facility was my ‘inspiration’.” Kaiba’s voice was cold and hard as he spoke, his hands clenched in fists. Jou had never seen Kaiba like this before, and not knowing what to say, he reached out and took the brunet’s hand in his, giving it a slight squeeze. Kaiba snorted contemptuously. “Fucking pathetic!” he spat caustically, finally turning his gaze towards the blond.

Jou gasped in surprise. Kaiba’s eyes were swollen and puffy as though he’d been crying, the redness only intensifying the loathing that was burning in the brunet’s stare. Tenderly, he stroked the back of Kaiba’s hand with his thumb, hoping the simple gesture might console the brunet. “I don’t know what your step-father did to you, Seto, but you don’t need him for anything. You’ve got Mokuba…” He dropped his gaze, kicking a stray pebble away from him with his shoe. “And if you’re willing, you’ve got me,” he added, a faint pink blush creeping up his cheeks.

Kaiba nodded, his eyes softening as he looked into the gentle amber gaze of his lover. “I know,” he replied quietly. “That’s why I brought you here.”

“I – I don’t understand,” Jou stuttered. “What do I have to do with all of this?”

Kaiba gave the blond a small smile as he traced a finger along Jou’s chin. “Everything. Do you remember what I said to you last night, Puppy? About how you’ve done more for me than you could know?”

Jou nodded slowly, the words sounding vaguely familiar to him. “Yes, but –“

“Shh,” Seto interrupted, moving his finger over Jou’s lips to silence him. “Jou, you are my new inspiration.” He gestured widely around him, his trench coat flaring out behind him as he turned. “I don’t need this anymore; the only thing I need is you with me, by my side today.” He pulled his hand from Jou’s grasp, and pulled a small remote control from the pocket of his coat.

Jou’s eyes widened in surprise. “What’s that, Seto?”

He turned back to the building, squaring his jaw defiantly. “This represents the end of Gozaburo Kaiba,” he hissed venomously, depressing the button with his thumb. There was a loud rumble, and the warehouse exploded in a cloud of fire, smoke and dust. “Do you hear me, old man? You have no influence over me any more!” Kaiba shouted over the concussion, tears of rage prickling at his eyes. “It’s over,” he growled. “You’re out of my life for good.”

Jou felt Kaiba tremble slightly, and he gently rubbed the brunet’s back to comfort him, standing silently by his side and allowing him to watch as the final pieces of the once mighty warehouse crumbled to the ground. He felt Kaiba stiffen slightly, and Jou knew that the brunet had once again veiled his emotions behind a mask of indifference. “Seto, are you ok? You know it’s ok to be upset.”

Nodding, he replied, “I’m better than ok.” He knelt down to snap open his briefcase. He retrieved two roses from inside – one white, one red – and handed them to the blond.

Jou took the flowers and looked up at the brunet with confusion.

“White for sincerity, red for love, and given together, they signify unity. Puppy, I want you to be with me. I had never thought it possible, but somehow, I’ve grown to love you. Maybe over the last few days, I’ve come to realize how special you are, or maybe I always felt something for you, but never acknowledged it. Either way, I never thought there’d be anyone else in my life but me and Mokuba; but you’ve gotten to me, Jou, and I don’t want to let you go. Ever.” He took Jou’s hand in his as he turned back to the rubble. “Because of you, I’ve finally destroyed these walls, and broken down those I’ve built around my heart.” He pulled the blond into a tight embrace, and nuzzling against his neck, he whispered, “For that, I thank you.” He kissed the blond softly on the lips, and his heart feeling considerably lighter, he said, “Come on Puppy, let’s get out of here. There’s nothing left of any value.”

* * *

Once they were both secured on board the helicopter and heading back home, Kaiba turned to Jou and said softly, “I have something that belongs to you, and I want you to have it back.” He handed a small envelope to the blond, then sat back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest.

Curiously, Jou opened the envelope and pulled out a Red-Eyes Black Dragon card. Puzzled, he turned to the brunet, his eyes questioning.

“I found the claim ticket for this, and I wanted you to have it back.”

“Seto, it’s not that I don’t appreciate it and everything, but you can’t be bailing me out all the time. I got myself into this mess, and I’ve got to get myself out of it. Besides, why the hell would you care about my Red-Eyes? You said yourself that my deck was pathetic!” Jou responded angrily. 

“Look Jounouchi,” Kaiba replied sternly, glaring at the blond. “Cut the tough-guy routine. I’m not ‘bailing you out’. I saw the list of stuff you pawned, and most of it was complete shit. I wouldn’t waste my time picking half that crap up, and frankly, I’m surprised they gave you as much for it as they did.” Jou’s mouth dropped open in stunned silence at the brunet’s words. Kaiba’s glare softened slightly as he added, “But, I know what this card represents to you, and for you to give it up for me was the most selfless thing anyone has ever done. If nothing else, consider it a gift.” He turned to stare straight ahead of him, a wry smirk playing across his lips when he saw Jou gently run his finger along the edge of the card and carefully slide it into his pocket. “By the way, Puppy, sometimes you talk out loud when you talk to yourself.”

“Huh?” Jou asked, a confused frown creasing his smooth brow.

Kaiba turned to the blond and smirked. “That’s how I got into your locker. You talk out loud to yourself when you’re working out the combination.” The blond blinked in surprise, causing Kaiba to let out a small chuckle. “I guess that means you won’t be in charge of bank accounts and PIN numbers.”

“Screw you,” Jou snapped back.

“Again, Puppy? Aren’t you still sore from last night?” Kaiba quipped, planting a kiss on Jou’s pouting lips.

“Not as sore as you’re going to be if you don’t cut it out!” Jou growled playfully, capturing Kaiba’s lips in a heated kiss. Within moments, he had freed Kaiba’s penis from the confines of its pants and he was fisting the hard shaft hungrily.

“Oh God, Puppy,” Kaiba moaned. “We don’t have time for this…we’ll be landing in about ten minutes.”

“What? You’ve never heard of a ‘quickie’?” Jou asked as he slicked his hand with his saliva and continued his ministrations. His own cock was throbbing as he watched the brunet squirm at his hand, and while he continued to stroke Kaiba, he used his other hand to free his own raging erection and work his own shaft.

When Kaiba saw Jou pleasuring himself, it was more than he could take. His eyes darkening with lust, he unbuckled the blond from his seat, making him kneel face-down against the cushion. Unfastening his own belt, he slid in behind Jounouchi to reach around and needily caress the thick, pulsing rod. 

Jou growled in pleasure when Kaiba touched him, and turning to look over his shoulder at the brunet, he whispered with a seductive smile, “Fuck me now or lose me forever.”

Hearing the words spoken with such raw passion, Kaiba let out a wanton moan, feeling his cock pulsing in anticipation. Sliding Jou’s pants down to his knees, Kaiba spread Jou’s cheeks, and used his tongue to lubricate the area with saliva. When the blond was mewling and writhing beneath him, Kaiba carefully probed at Jou’s opening with his penis, gently sliding the shaft deep into his lover.

Slowly, he began to thrust against Jou, once again feeling the tight heat of the blond’s passage. As the intensity built for him, he began to rock his hips faster, feeling Jou thrusting back against him, meeting him stroke for stroke.

Jou let out a loud whimper, and brought his hand up to fondle his member while Kaiba continued to pound into him. He screamed in ecstasy when the brunet once again struck his prostate, and as his vision went white, he found himself clenching his muscles tightly as he fought against his release and screamed a raspy, “Seto!”

Hearing the blond once again calling his name in pleasure sent Kaiba over the edge. With a lusty moan, he panted, “Oh God, Jou, I love you.” With a shudder, he shot his seed deep within Jou’s body. Sated, the brunet rested his weight on his lover, and reaching around Jou’s body, he placed his hand over the blond’s and the two feverishly worked Jou’s penis. 

Feeling the touch of cool fingers against his burning flesh sent a ripple of excitement through Jou’s body, and concentrating on the skilled hand manipulating his cock, he found himself unable to control himself any longer. With a sensual groan, Jou came violently, spilling his essence over his and Kaiba’s hands. When he felt his breathing had slowed, he glanced over his shoulder at the brunet, who was licking at his fingers luxuriously, as though he were sampling some exquisite treat. Turning and sitting on the edge of his seat, Jou rubbed the pearly fluid around on his own fingers before offering them to the brunet.

Greedily, Kaiba sucked Jou’s slim fingers into his mouth, cleansing them of every last drop before he pulled the half-naked blond into his arms to ravage his mouth with a passionate kiss. “God, Puppy,” he breathed as he nuzzled the blond’s hair, breathing in his scent. “I think I’ve found a new way I want to spend my breaks at the office!” He chuckled softly when Jou stuck his tongue out at him and gave him a playful smack on the arm. Kaiba was about to make a comment about the blond putting his tongue to better use when the pilot’s voice came over the intercom.

“Gentlemen, if you would prepare for landing, we’ll be making our descent soon.”

The two straightened their clothes and buckled in for the landing. Once they had cleared the terminal building, they climbed into the back seat of the limo, Jou snuggling into Kaiba’s lap and resting his head against the brunet’s chest. As the limo pulled away from the curb and towards Kaiba’s home, he brushed the bangs out of the blond’s eyes and kissed him tenderly on the lips. With a contented sigh, he turned to stare out the window at the passing scenery. ‘It’s really strange,’ he thought to himself as he listened to the soft, gentle breathing of the blond in his lap. ‘Who would have ever thought that something so good could come of a broken wall…?’


End file.
